KeyCDN Blog 23 Useful PHP Tools for the Everyday Web Developer

<p>Thanks to its reliable performance, extensive documentation and dedicated user community, PHP is one of the preferred server-side scripting language of many web developers. Consequently, there are so many free and premium PHP tools available online that it&rsquo;s difficult for developers to determine which ones are worthwhile. Below is a run down of a few useful PHP tools for developers.</p> <h2 id="best-php-development-environments">Best PHP Development Environments</h2> <h3 id="1-phpstorm">1. PHPStorm</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/phpstorm.png" alt="phpstorm" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="https://www.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">PHPStorm</a> streamlines application development by offering integration with relational databases and other PHP tools. It supports many popular PHP web frameworks and CMS solutions including WordPress, Drupal, Magento and Joomla. This enterprise IDE is available to students and teachers at no cost, so take advantage of the discount if you can.</p> <h3 id="2-aws-cloud-9">2. AWS Cloud 9</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/aws-cloud9.png" alt="AWS Cloud 9" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/cloud9/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">AWS Cloud 9</a> is ideal for developing PHP applications completely in the cloud. In addition to allowing you to create web applications without the need for a server, this tool supports all of the advanced features you&rsquo;d expect from a modern IDE like code hinting and completion.</p> <h3 id="3-xampp">3. XAMPP</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/xampp.png" alt="xampp" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>This tried-and-true PHP tool is well supported, easy to install and free for anyone to download. It might have more features than you need, but it&rsquo;s especially helpful if you use MySQL for database management. You can even install CMS components on top of <a href="https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">XAMPP</a> with the help of Bitnami.</p> <h3 id="4-eclipse-pdt">4. Eclipse PDT</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/eclipse-pdt-1.png" alt="eclipse pdt" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>Though originally intended for Java coding, Eclipse can be extended to support PHP with the <a href="https://www.eclipse.org/pdt/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">PDT plugin</a>. Eclipse is open source and has all of the features you&rsquo;d expect out of an IDE such as PHP profiling, syntax highlighting and unit testing; however, it requires a lot of resources to run, which could present an issue for smaller development teams.</p> <h3 id="5-scriptcase">5. ScriptCase</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/scriptcase.png" alt="scriptcase" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>With <a href="https://www.scriptcase.net/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">ScriptCase</a> you can create web-enabled applications in a matter of minutes. ScriptCase connects to most database engines, and it can produce interactive reports with helpful charts and tables. You can try ScriptCase for free for 20 days, but after that expect to pay an annual fee of $280-480 depending on which package you prefer.</p> <h3 id="6-phpdesigner">6. PHPDesigner</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/php-desginer.png" alt="php desginer" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="http://www.mpsoftware.dk/phpdesigner.php" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">PHPDesigner</a> may be the most feature-rich IDE made for specifically PHP developers. It contains just about everything you need to create and debug dynamic web apps including a PHP code beautifier tool. Of course, all of those features come with a hefty licensing fee. Fortunately, the intuitive interface makes PHPDesigner especially helpful if you&rsquo;re just getting started with learning PHP.</p> <h3 id="7-aptana-studio">7. Aptana Studio</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/aptana.png" alt="aptana" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="http://www.aptana.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Aptana Studio</a> boasts a surprising amount of features for an open source IDE. Even better, it works on Windows, Mac and Linux. Thanks to the built-in PHP server and debugging tool, you can integrate your other PHP tools to build and test PHP apps in one environment.</p> <h3 id="8-code-lobster">8. Code Lobster</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/code-lobster.png" alt="code lobster" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>If you&rsquo;re looking for a portable IDE solution, <a href="http://www.codelobster.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Code Lobster</a> is probably available as a plugin for your favorite CMS. You can use a limited version of Code Lobster for free, but you&rsquo;ll have to pay for full access to all features.</p> <h3 id="9-phped">9. PhpED</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/phped.png" alt="phped" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="http://www.nusphere.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">PhpED</a> is one of many PHP tools made by NuSphere. In addition to PHP 7.1, this code editor supports HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. Notable features include code insights, refactoring capabilities and remote debugging. Best of all, it&rsquo;s compatible with many of the other PHP tools on this list.</p> <h3 id="10-sublime-text">10. Sublime Text</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/sublime-text-php.png" alt="sublime text php" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>If you just need a text editor and not a full IDE, then <a href="https://www.sublimetext.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Sublime Text</a> is the obvious choice for PHP developers. The go-to-anything feature lets you quickly locate files or lines of code, and simultaneous editing allows you to make changes to multiple instances of code at once. For a one-time fee of $80, Sublime Text is perfect for the independent developer on a budget. Check out our other comprehensive guides for a complete list of the <a href="https://www.keycdn.com/blog/best-ide">best IDE&rsquo;s</a> and <a href="https://www.keycdn.com/blog/best-text-editors">text editors</a> available.</p> <h2 id="best-php-testing-tools">Best PHP Testing Tools</h2> <h3 id="1-phpunit">1. PHPUnit</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/phpunit.png" alt="phpunit" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="https://phpunit.de/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">PHPUnit</a> is just like JUnit except that it&rsquo;s for PHP testing instead of Java testing. It allows you to create your own unit tests and see the results in several different formats. PHPUnit is particularly useful for consistency and scalability testing.</p> <h3 id="2-selenium">2. Selenium</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/selenium.png" alt="selenium" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="https://www.seleniumhq.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Selenium</a> is a lightweight, open source testing framework that lets anyone create custom UI tests in any language. It is compatible with most browsers, and it deploys on Windows, Linux and macOS.</p> <h2 id="best-php-debugging-tools">Best PHP Debugging Tools</h2> <h3 id="1-xdebug">1. Xdebug</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/xdebug.png" alt="xdebug" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>Since it debuted in 2002, <a href="https://xdebug.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Xdebug</a> has become one of the most trusted PHP tools. This open source solution enables single-step debugging and stack trace functionality. Available as a plugin for Eclipse, PHPDesigner and most other development environments, Xdebug is compatible with dozens of other front end debugging tools.</p> <h3 id="2-debugbar">2. DebugBar</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/debug-bar.png" alt="debug bar" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p><a href="http://phpdebugbar.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DebugBar</a> is a useful tool for any developer since it can catch HTML and JavaScript bugs as well. Additionally, DebugBar can monitor network traffic, inspect CSS elements and evaluate your JavaScript code. That may be more features than you need, but it&rsquo;s pretty impressive for an open source solution.</p> <h3 id="3-macgdbp">3. MacGDBp</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/macgdbp.png" alt="macgdbp" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>As its name suggests, <a href="https://www.bluestatic.org/software/macgdbp/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">MacGDBp</a> was made specifically for debugging PHP on Mac. Combine it with the Xdebug extension to view local variables and call stacks in a macOS interface.</p> <h2 id="best-php-documentation-tools">Best PHP Documentation Tools</h2> <h3 id="1-phpdocumentor">1. PHPDocumentor</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/phpdoc.png" alt="phpdoc" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>This open source PHP documentation generator features a web-based command line interface. It automatically parses PHP code and outputs documentation in HTML, PDF, CHM and Docbook formats. You can integrate cross referencing and tutorials by linking between documentation. Check out the demo version of <a href="https://www.phpdoc.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">PHPDocumentor 2</a> to see the selection of new and improved PHP templates.</p> <h3 id="2-phpdox">2. PHPDox</h3> <figure><img src="https://www.keycdn.com/img/blog/phpdox.png" alt="phpdox" class="img-fluid rounded"></figure> <p>If you need quick API documentation for your PHP application, <a href="http://phpdox.de/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">PHPDox</a> is the perfect solution. It even includes helpful