Writing simple yet impactful code without wasting time has become the need of the hour in this digital era. When writing software code efficiently, one should not undermine the importance of code editors and IDEs (Integrated Development Environments).
However, selecting an appropriate code editor and IDE for PHP development is crucial. We have explained notable and user-friendly code editors and IDEs for users’ ease.
These chosen code editors and IDEs can help aspiring coders and programmers become refined and experienced versions of themselves in the future.
This blog post will highlight popular code editors and IDEs for PHP development that have delighted software development communities, including PHP, Python, etc. It will also differentiate between PHP code editors and IDEs.
Crucial Differences Between PHP Code Editors and IDEs
PHP code editors and IDEs help programmers code efficiently without hiccups. As a package, IDE (Integrated Development Environment) allows programmers to write, execute, compile, and debug codes appropriately.
Code editors comprise various impactful features that make code writing simple and results-driven. Unlike IDEs, which support a single programming language, they can also work with multiple programming languages simultaneously.
Top Code Editors and IDE for PHP Development
Fortunately, aspiring coders and programmers have numerous options when using user-conducive yet result-oriented code editors and IDEs (Integrated Development Environments).
Here are various code editors and IDE for PHP development they can opt for to become better coders and programmers in the future:
Best Code Editors For PHP Development
- Sublime Text
- Brackets
- SlickEdit
Sublime Text
Sublime Text is one of the most used cross-platform source editors. It offers multiple features to users, including multi-line editing, text snippets, split window support, and more.
Sublime Text grabs the attention of potential users by offering an attractive Python API. Additionally, the code editor offers users a few helpful WordPress plugins, enabling them to write WordPress code without issues.
Prominent Features of Sublime Text
- The code editor supports Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
- It offers a user-friendly interface to programmers.
- It supports numerous languages like Bash, Ruby, Python, and more.
Pricing
- Offers a free version
- It also provides paid versions starting from $80 (one-time cost).
- Sublime Merge costs $80.
- Sublime Text & Merge costs $152.
Brackets
Brackets is an excellent source code editor that helps web developers perform multiple crucial tasks. It is the brainchild of Adobe Inc. and managed by open-source developers on GitHub.
Brackets is a famous cross-platform source code editor that supports platforms like Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Prominent Features of Brackets
- The code editor offers results-driven live HTML, CSS, and JavaScript editing capabilities.
- Like other code editors, Brackets delivers a simple and user-friendly interface.
- It supports Ruby, Python, Perl, C++, Java, VBScript, and other languages.
Pricing
- Free
SlickEdit
SlickEdit is a multi-language and cross-platform code editor that helps aspiring and seasoned programmers create code effectively.
The renowned code editor offers top-notch editing features that let users streamline code development and utilize the editor depending on their diverse needs and preferences.
Prominent Features of SlickEdit
- The code editor supports platforms like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
- It supports Java, C++, Python, JavaScript, and other programming languages.
- It offers a customizable interface and impactful features like Beautifiers, Symbol Coloring, Context Tagging, etc.
Pricing
- The editor comes with a free trial.
- SlickEdit Standard version costs $125 (one-time purchase).
- SlickEdit Pro version costs $299 (one-time purchase).
Best IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) for PHP Development
- Visual Studio Code
- PhpStorm
- Eclipse
Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is Microsoft’s brainchild. It allows new and seasoned programmers to write code effectively. Visual Studio Code, also known as VS Code, is a free and open-source code editor that supports various development operations, such as debugging, version control, task running, and more.
Prominent Features of Visual Studio Code
- VS Code is compatible with leading operating systems like Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
- It also supports web browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox.
- The code editor supports numerous languages like C++, Clojure, DockerFile, Perl, PowerShell, Python, R, Razor, etc.
Pricing
- Free
PhpStorm
As a notable PHP IDE, PhpStorm is an engaging PHP editor for new and experienced programmers. PhpStorm enables users to perform different tasks efficiently depending on their needs.
For instance, users can edit schemas with UML diagrams. Moreover, users can easily edit databases and run queries on table data. Through its code assistance feature, users can smartly deal with SQL projects and queries.
Prominent Features of PhpStorm
- The code editor supports leading operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
- It supports languages such as PHP 5.3, PHP 5.4, PHP 5.5, PHP 5.6, and PHP 7.0, HTML, and JavaScript.
- PhpStorm offers users an attractive and easy-to-use interface.
Pricing
- Starting from $249 for the 1st year, $199 for the 2nd year, and $149 for the 3rd year onwards.
Eclipse
Eclipse is a free IDE (Integrated Development Environment) suitable for computer programming. It offers an engaging Java-based development platform. Furthermore, the code editor provides users with various extensions and plugins that enable programmers to create codes in different languages.
Similarly, they can evaluate such codes in multiple programming languages according to their specific requirements.
Prominent Features of Eclipse
- The code editor is compatible with operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
- It supports popular PHP tools, including Composer, Zend Debugger, Xdebug, PHPUnit, etc.
- It is compatible with multiple languages like C, C++, D, COBOL, Haskell, Java, JavaScript, Julia, Lasso, Lua, Natural, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Ruby, Rust, Scala, Clojure, Scheme, and more.
Pricing
- Free
Best Code Editors and IDE for PHP Development Reddit
Reddit is one of the leading social media platforms, allowing users to discuss and share their views regarding numerous products and services with others worldwide.
Thousands of Redditors have rated Visual Studio Code as the number one source-code editor. Users have also admired Sublime 3, Eclipse, and other code editors.
Wrapping Up
We expect you to appreciate our blog post, which lets you explore the top code editors and IDE for PHP development. To write good code as a programmer or coder, learn about all these valuable IDEs and code editors.
Through these impressive IDEs and code editors, you can benefit from several stunning features and tools, including auto-completion, auto-indentation, brace, and syntax highlighting.
That said, using a helpful code editor or IDE can be challenging for aspiring programmers and coders since there are so many options in the market.
However, our recommended choices are Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, and PhpStorm. These IDEs and code editors are user-friendly because they offer new and experienced programmers simple user interfaces.