You hire PHP developers for your big project, but you still think that something is missing? Well, maybe you haven’t provided them with the right PHP development tools to make their work easier and more efficient.
If you have no idea what PHP development tools are and which ones are the most efficient, don’t worry. In this article, we will discuss it all and suggest the very best tools that your developers will certainly love!
So without taking much of your time, let’s jump straight to:
Top 10 PHP Development Tools
1) PhpStorm
The first one on our list is PhpStorm which is by far the most popular choice among PHP developers. It offers an integrated development environment (IDE) that is really fast, lightweight, and smooth. Some of its main features are:
- Good framework support
PhpStorm is a perfect choice for working with all the major frameworks like Symfony, Laravel, Zend, Magento, Joomla, Drupal, CakePHP, WordPress, and so on.
- Includes front-end technologies
PhpStorm offers refactoring, unit testing, and debugging which helps to make the most out of all the best front-end technologies like CSS, Sass, HTML5, Less, Emmet, and others. It also helps you to see instantly all the changes you’ve made with the Live Edit feature.
- Built-in tools for developers
Perform all the routine tasks directly from your IDE. The Version Control System integration of PhpStorm, supports databases/SQL, command-line tools, Composer, Docker, and other popular tools.
2) PHP Debugbar
Next on our list is PHP Debugger. Your developers will be able to run it with any display data or project. There are two main parts to this tool:
- The mainDebugBar object
- The data collectors and the render
Other than catching PHP bugs, you could also use this tool to identify JavaScript and HTML bugs. The tool is also used to inspect CSS elements, check the JavaScript code, or monitor the network.
3) Eclipse
Not only does this tool have a very poetic name, but it is also one of the most beloved tools for PHP developers. The reason is that it offers a wide variety of plugins that makes it easy to develop even the most complex PHP code. You can also use it to extend or customize the IDE according to your project.
4) Code Lobster
Not as poetic as the Eclipse, but certainly juicy and delicious, Code Lobster is not only catching the eye with its fun name but also its powerful IDE. It helps to complete pretty much all the major PHP tasks, from writing the scripts to removing the bugs and changing the design. All of it, in one platform!
5) Zend Studio
Again, Zend Studio is a pretty powerful integrated development environment that offers:
- Intelligent editing of the code: you get to save a lot of time with the intuitive code assist.
- Profiling and debugging: you can use this tool in the Zend Server or independently
- Interoperability: supports CVS, Git, GitHub and SVN
- Simple Deployment : it allows you to deploy the apps on the public or private clouds.
6) Aptana Studio
Aptana Studio is an open source tool that helps you build web applications really quickly and simplifies the entire process. It uses the flexibility of Eclipse and tyrns it into a really powerful development engine.
7) Sublime Text
Sublime Text is one of the most powerful text editors out there. Although it’s not really an IDE, it still comes pretty handy during the coding process. If you install a couple of packages and plugins, you can make it completely enough for developing your PHP applicaitons.
Some of the core feature of Sublime are:
- Instant Project Switch
- Plugin API
- Distraction free mode
- Really good command pallet
Sublime is supported by all popular languages and platforms. You can use it on Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
8) Selenium
Selenium helps PHP developers to conduct UI tests in any scripting language. If you combine it with PHPUnit, you can run automated tests on any browser you choose!
9) Scriptcase
Here’s another powerful PHP tool that is used a lot by developers to generate web apps. Scriptcase is a PHP form builder that can help you build large large systems in only a couple of hours.
10) Netbeast
Last but not least is Netbeast, the most popular PHP IDE out there you should certainly give a try!
So try out these PHP development tools and let us know which one worked the best for you! If we missed any important tool, let us know in the comments section.
