What are some good PHP editors?

Question

I'm currently using PhpStorm by Idea JetBrains, but its buggy and I'm really looking for something that will allow me to get work done without too much hassle.

Please limit one IDE/Editor an answer.

Solution 1

Netbeans is a great IDE with lots of PHP support. I can't even start to name all the features I use but there are a fair amount. Check it out here:

• http://netbeans.org/features/scripting/index.html
• http://netbeans.org/features/php/index.html

I've used both Eclipse for Java and Netbeans for PHP and I feel Netbeans is a bit stronger for PHP as well as XHTML and CSS. That's my personal preference anyways.

Looking at PHPStorm I assume you're looking for something similar to it, so a full IDE. Netbeans and Eclipse are the closest to that as far as I'm familiar with.

Netbeans has most, if not all, the features that PhpStorm has on that page plus a whole lot more.

Solution 2

Geany

This is an advanced editor/lightweight IDE with lots of features. Like Gedit, it has syntax highlighting for PHP and is extendible through plugins. It has some more advanced features than Gedit such as code folding. It can be installed from the repositories by installing the package geany and optionally geany-plugins.

Solution 3

vim

Well, you have to work a little at the start to make it an IDE but it's great once you do it. It has GUI version called GVim as well. Install it with

sudo apt-get install vim-gtk

here are some tips on making it work with PHP and here are the list of plugins you can use to enhance vim to better work with php.

Solution 4

Gedit

This comes pre-installed with Ubuntu and is simple and lightweight. It has syntax highlighting for a very large number of languages including PHP. It is extensible using plugins.

Solution 5

Bluefish

This is another good editor that supports PHP and is more web-focused than Gedit or Geany so may be more suitable for PHP. You can install it from the package bluefish.

View more solutions

Comments

[Michael Gundlach]

Please split your answer up to one item a post so people can vote appropriately.

[WalterJ89]

also I'm not aware of one feature that Eclipse has over Netbeans for PHP and Web Development. I'm very interested it there is one

[Michael Gundlach]

I use Geany for virtually all my Development (which is mostly PHP)

[Oli]

Gedit+Plugins is an awesome editor for lots of things.

[sagarchalise]

+1 to geany. The newer version can be installed from launchpad.net/~geany-dev/+archive/ppa

[Evan Plaice]

Gedit + plugins is the equivalent to what Notepad++ in Windows would be if it didn't have so much unnecessary featuritis cruft included in the default install. Just be sure to disable the "File Browser Pane" plugin. It is known to have a bug that causes gedit to take a lot longer to startup.

[pranay]

+1 because I've tried so many IDEs I don't even dare to remember..and NetBeans is the best, great balance between features and usability. If you just want an editor, then (G)Vim, but it has a learning curve (well worth it). Additionally, you can install jVi plugin for NetBeans and have the best of both worlds.

[eddy147]

+1 because Netbeans has all the features you need for (PHP) programming: code completion, phpdoc, debugging, svn/git/cvs support, local history, etc. etc

[DilbertDave]

I use gedit for my PHP work - I don't think it needs something as heavyweight as Netbeans.

[OverStacked]

How can i customize gedit to match the highlighting scheme in the screenshot?

[dv3500ea]

Gedit is themeable. I'm not sure which theme that is though. You could ask this as its own question.

[Stefano]

+1 for Netbeans because it supports debugging with XDebug, and useful features like "Go to defintion" or "Find usages", that you expect to find in a good Development IDE.

[Stefano]

I also use Geany for editing occasional PHP pages, but for main projects not comparable with Netbeans.

[Mateo]

The link to quanta plus seems to be broken

[Walter Tross]

When you double-click on a PHP variable in Geany, the dollar is not selected (BTW, the same holds for Bluefish). To me, this is a clear indicator that Geany (and Bluefish) cannot be taken seriously as a PHP editor.

[lrkwz]

Add Ubuntu on Rails PPA: sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-on-rails/ppa sudo apt-get update Note: on Karmic use add-apt-repository instead of apt-add-repository. Install gedit-gmate package: sudo apt-get install gedit-gmate

[RN Kushwaha]

But it responds very slow. Always crashes.

[jave.web]

Eclipse and Netbeans are both great, but in my opinion are too heavy and complex for simple/ier projects or basic file editing :)

[jave.web]

@WalterTross not clear indicator at all, it is just a different approach to what you want to copy - a name or a variable :)