Specifications
Choosing a Development Environment
Talking about version control brings up the more general topic of development environments.
All you really need are a text editor and a browser for testing, but many PHP users, especially
those used to an integrated environment, have expressed interested in an integrated develop-
ment environment, or IDE. At present there is no mature IDE for PHP programmers. You can,
of course, download or write your own syntax highlighting extension for an existing editor or
existing Web development suites. Many of these are available from various places online (too
many to list here—search according to your preferred editor).
There are a number of emerging projects to build a dedicated PHP IDE. At the time of writing,
this included the following:
• The Zend IDE, for Windows or UNIX, available from
http://www.zend.com/
This client-server system has all the normal editor features, plus built-in debugging facil-
ities such as watches and breakpoints. Requires a license for the server and for each
client. Individual or site licenses can be purchased online.
• KPHPDevelop, for the K Desktop Environment under Linux, available from
http://kphpdev.sourceforge.net/
This IDE is designed specifically for teams working on a project together through a file-
locking mechanism. (They plan to support CVS in future versions.) It also supports syn-
tax highlighting and database access for MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Sybase.
• PHPCoder, for Win32 platforms, available from
http://phpcoder.stsoft.cjb.net
This is quite good and quite new. It is an integrated environment that supports a script
preview mode via plugging in to the PHP executable as well as integrating the documen-
tation for easy use. PHPCoder is freeware.
• PHPEdit, for Win32 platforms, available from
http://www.phpedit.com
This project has not yet been released to the public at the time of writing, so I can’t com-
ment on it. They plan to support all the usual features and have a built-in manual.
• PHPGem, available from
http://phpgem.ru.net:8100/
Given parameters of your database, PHPGem will generate basic interface code, which
works with MySQL and PostgreSQL, among others. PHPGem is itself a PHP script, so it
will work with whatever environment you have.
There are, no doubt, other projects in the works. It will be interesting to see if one of these
IDEs emerges as a leader.
Using PHP and MySQL for Large Projects
C
HAPTER 22
22
USING PHP AND
MYSQL FOR
LARGE
PROJECTS
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