The top experts recommend PHP, one of the fastest and widely used open-source programming languages for website development and web app development. PHP has a vast community and well-supported frameworks which makes it a good reason why web app developers globally prefer PHP when compared to other server-side languages like Python and Ruby. As of today, the market is flooded with various PHP tools which can increase the programming efficiency of the PHP developers. In this blog post, we will talk about the PHP development tools that will catch the attention of web development communities in 2020 for developing appealing, innovative and feature-loaded PHP projects.
PHPStorm
PHPStorm is a standard choice as it is a lightweight, fast and smooth PHP development tool. This PHP IDE goes fine with PHP frameworks (Zend, Symfony, Yii, Laravel, and CakePHP, to name a few) and successful Content Management Systems (Drupal, Magento, and WordPress). Also, it supports live editing for frontend technologies, namely CSS, HTML5, and JavaScript, along with code refactoring, unit testing, and debugging.
Features:
- Code completion
- Code re-arranger
- Zero Configuration Debugging
- Native ZenCoding support
- Supports extension with a plethora of beneficial plugins such as Vim Editor
Specialties:
- Languages supported: Backed by PHP, JavaScript, and Visual Basic, C, C++, and C #.
- Platforms supported: Backed by Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Zend Studio
Zend Studio demands no extra time and effort from web app developers in writing and debugging codes. This comprehensive PHP IDE has optimal speed which comes with an impressive set of features. It has the potential to deploy apps on various servers, even in the Cloud server. Extension of the Zend Studio is possible by Eclipse plugins.
Features:
- Indexing and searching PHP Code
- More agile Performance in the validation
- Zend Framework & Zend Tool Integration
- Docker Support
- Assistance for Eclipse Plugin
Specialties:
- Languages supported: PHP, JavaScript, Visual Basic, C, C++, and C# are the languages supported.
- Platforms supported: Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS are the platforms supported.
NuSphere PhpED
NuSphere presents the proprietary integrating PHP development tool named PHPED, which is the robust PHP tool a PHP developer can ever use. PHPED supports the PHP version 7.1 with HTML5 CSS3 and JavaScript Code. The primary reason web app developers consider PHPED is because it works with a range of PHP frameworks like Laravel, Yii or Zend; also, it has advanced code debugging features and functionalities.
Features:
- Stimulate PHP apps with PhpExpress
- Assistance for composite file extensions
- Parallel Debugging
- Complete integration with PHP Unit
- Refactoring of PHP code
Specialties:
- Supports PHP, HTML, XML, CSS, Perl, Python, and JavaScript languages.
- Windows, Web, Mac, Linux, and iPad are the platforms that are supported by PHPED.
Eclipse PHP IDE /Eclipse Editor
The PHP Development editor has got the support of the latest version of PHP, i.e., PHP 7, responsible for the practical compilation of PHP code. Also, it supports all three major platforms (MAC, Linux, and Windows). It is the most competent performance-optimized and advanced PHP editor software which aids the PHP developers in code optimization accompanied by augmenting software performance. Since the eclipse editor holds code highlighting functionalities, the developers write code in a better way when compare to the command line. Furthermore, Eclipse PHP development tools have advanced code debugging functionalities that lets developers eliminate 100% bug.
Features:
- Syntax highlighting
- Content assist
- Code templates
- Formatting of code
- Code navigation
Netbeans
Netbeans comes with rich features with excellent support for multiple languages. Netbeans, which was initially written in Java but now it supports PHP development services and goes well with all open-source PHP development frameworks like Zend, Symfony 2, CakePHP, FuelPHP, and Smarty. It provides extensive support for Content management software and supports the development of a CMS-based PHP website/blog. This open-source PHP development tool emphasizes numerous Continuous Integration (CI) based features and functionalities, letting PHP development company integrate new and customized features efficiently. Also, it has a powerful source code formatting feature which enables the developers to format source code automatically.
Features:
- Code Formatting and folding
- Smart code completion
- Getter Setter generation
- Try/catch code completion
- Syntax Highlighter
Specialties:
- PHP, JavaScript, C, C++, and HTML5 are the languages supported.
- Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Solaris are the platforms supported.
Conclusion
Every tool listed above holds outstanding features and capabilities in itself. These fully-loaded PHP development tools assist in creating websites quickly and easily. These are not the only PHP development tools in the market you may find more. You can also contact a PHP app development company to get more ideas on paid and free PHP tools.