I do all my PHP coding in Dreamweaver (currently version CS3) I am used to it and like it. There is one thing I would like though, is to be able to check for errors. Currently I don't see them until I upload the page to a server. Is there anyway to setup PHP error checking in Dreamweaver?
Thanks.
Do you mean as you type? Since PHP isn't compiled, it's not as easy to do as with a language like Java or C#. The closest you can come to that is with PHPLint. Unfortunately, you have to do some hackery with Cygwin to get it to work under Windows.
I know that this isn't what you asked for, but Dreamweaver is not a very good editor for PHP. It lacks many features and isn't really meant to be used mainly for PHP. Try these editors, which have on-the-go error checking:
If you mean how can you setup your system so you can test PHP locally on your computer without the need to upload it to the web, you need a web server on your computer. I highly recommend Xampp. It's an all-in-one package to install Apache, MySQL, PHP, and more on your computer and has a spiffy control panel.
I highly recommend using an IDE like Eclipse PDT it will greatly enhance your experience with PHP.
I am personally very fond of NuSphere's phpED. It does code complete and syntax checking better than several other editor that i've tried.
For view your work live, I recommend downloading WAMP and setting up a quick webserver on your computer. It beets uploading via FTP every time you want to see a change.
I've been coding in PHP/MySQL/HTML/CSS/JS for many years. Dreamweaver has done a lot of good things in its evolution. The CS4 offering is good, but still lacks those things that are absolutely needed for professionals...real time code checking, code completion etc. These are absolutes.
PHPed is an OK offering, but only available in Windows. Despite its claims, it is NOT stable on Mac or Linux platforms.
Zend and Aptana are virtually the same thing. Both are Eclips-PDT based products, except Aptana is more full featured. Zend has been very unresponsive to its customers in not including simple things like word wrap, for instance. Aptana Studio 1.5 was outstanding with its own PHP plugin, but is no longer available since they adopted the unfinished, raw PDT.
NetBeans is absolutely the BEST PHP platform, but has a downside in running away with memory..at least on the Mac it does (this could be an issue with the Java VM however). But it DOES provide the best set of features...and its free.
Aptana 1.5 is my choice at the moment, but since it's not being enhanced anymore, I'm looking for a new IDE of choice. So far that's been NetBeans. I'm hoping that they will eventually fix the memory leaks.