Using PHPEclipse/About PHPEclipse

PHPEclipse is a set of plugins for the Eclipse Framework which provide and integrated IDE for PHP developers. Eclipse, and PHPEclipse are written in Java, and will run on all graphical desktop environments. PHPEclipse is Open Source software, freely available under the Common Public Licence.

Why Use PHPEclipse?

There are several decent Integrated Development Environments available for PHP web development, each with their own pros and cons. So what stands out about PHPEclipse?

Eclipse is a Consistent and Mature Platform

The Eclipse Platform provides users with a consistent user interface paradigm. A software development IDE is one of the more complex desktop applications most of us are likely to use, and so the time required for a developer to become efficient with a particular IDE can be significant. Eclipse doesn't reduce this time, but it does provide a consistent interface approach which need only be learnt once in order to develop efficiently with a wide range of programming languages and tools. As part of this approach, Eclipse provides detailed documentation and tutorials on all it's generic functionality, allowing plugin projects, such as PHPEclipse, to focus only on their areas specific to their domain. By learning to use Eclipse as a development platform, or learning to develop your own plug-in tools for eclipse, you are acquiring a useful and flexible skill.

PHPEclipse is Cross Platform

PHP web development is performed by developers using many different operating systems and desktop environments. As PHPEclipse is available on any system which can run Java, it is an ideal choice when a single IDE is desired by a group of developers spread across a range of different environments.

Eclipse Provides a Wealth of Mature Development Tools

Eclipse provides an array of important development tools such as CVS integration, project wide text searching and manipulation. A large range of third party plugins is available for Eclipse (both free and commercial).

Feature Overview

PHPEclipse Features

• PHP, HTML, XML and CSS Syntax Highlighting
• Code completion
• Javascript Editor (?)
• Integrated web browser preview
• Integrated control of Apache & MySQL servers (if using XAMP distribution) (?)
• Some PHPUnit Integration (?)
• Integrated MySQL client view using Quantum DB (?)
• HTMLTidy integration (?)

(?) indicates that I haven't yet tried this out

Useful Eclipse Features

• CVS Integration
• Search across files
• Task list

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