Awards

Super fast PHP IDE with many features. I think this one could be one of the biggest in the short future.... so keep your eye on it!

Web developers will appreciate the solid feature set and smart design of this PHP development environment...

We recommend phpDesigner for experienced programmers who are looking for a stable, professional quality freeware tool and don't mind a bit of experimentation to learn how to use it.

Good looking and functional PHP editor - editors review by Nick Mead

 

It's not easy to get excited about the look of a PHP environment and editor but phpDesigner puts in more effort than most to create a stylish and highly usable one.

phpDesigner is a complete PHP IDE (Integrated Development Environment) and PHP editor that caters for just about all your PHP coding needs but it also applies itself to HTML, CSS and JavaScript development. The main aim of phpDesigner is to boost your productivity and make your life easier. However, because of this, it's aimed more at beginners than professional editors, although there's enough there to keep the latter interested too.

Probably the main bonus of phpDesigner is the intelligent syntax highlighting which spots errors as you type, meaning less head scratching at the end of a long coding session. This applies not just to PHP but to other languages as well. Of course, phpDesigner also comes with a debugger which can test scripts for errors and suggests possible solutions although as with all debuggers, the success rate can be hit and miss according to most users.

If you're looking for a good looking PHP editor that supports plenty of other languages too, then phpDesigner may well make your life a lot easier.

by Kevin Partner

 

It seems that my endless search for the ideal PHP IDE has finally…er…ended. phpDesigner is the most promising environment I’ve seen and even though I’ve only just started using it, it’s already seen Zend Studio Pro and the treacle-like Zend Studio Eclipse confined to the recycle bin.

Remarkably, phpDesigner is the work of one man, Michael Pham from Denmark who’s put it together (perhaps even more remarkably) in Delphi. phpDesigner has lots of productivity tools designed to make coding more efficient, it incorporates tools for editing related technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript and is one of the few tools that, through its excellent syntax tools, built in manuals and code snippets, helps newcomers to learn PHP.

And perhaps the best news is the price (less than forty quid including VAT). There’s a trial version available at http://www.mpsoftware.dk and the product is being actively developed with a beta version currently downloadable for all registered users.

It’s not often that I come across a piece of software like this that blows me away with its quality and value. I’ve been struggling with Zend’s reasonably featured but unresponsive products and had switched to the (also excellent) Ultraedit but phpDesigner looks like being my IDE of choice, at least for now.

by Tania Andersen

 

I en alder af 24 år er Michael Pham allerede en erfaren software-producent. Han er ene mand bag PHP-udviklingsværktøjet PhpDesigner og han har nu sat studiet på Handelshøjskolen på standby for at satse på virksomheden...

Read the whole article here (Danish only).

Today I thought I’d discuss one of the best free/paid PHP IDE’s out there; one I’ve been using for nearly 3 years now. That IDE would be, phpDesigner.

I’ve tried many IDE’s in my day, I believe the count stood at 6 before finding phpDesigner; it was like a “godsend”. It had features that blew most paid IDE’s out of the water.

Starting with phpDesigner 2007, Michael (the creator of the software) decided to make it commercial, while also releasing a personal (free) version. Even though the free version lacks some Pro features, it still beats every IDE I’ve come across.

Myself, I bought the Professional version - the $53 USD was well worth it. And I’d encourage ALL of you to give it a try by downloading the personal version, if you like it (I know you will), it’s easy to upgrade to the Professional version.

An IDE for PHP that doesn't suck!

 

phpDesigner is a complete IDE for PHP based web development. It is a pretty simple idea but this one seems to have actually pulled it off. If you’re looking for a Windows PHP IDE, this one is certainly worth a look.... read full article.

phpDeisgner is to PHP what the Fonz is to Happy Days

It’s all a bit musical around here at the moment with our work on the Music Wall – in fact, I’m starting to think I might be in a cheap production of West Side Story. So, as a change of topic, I thought I would do a quick review of a PHP IDE that has made my life far more enjoyable of late.

 

Things I like:

Access to Help – although it’s a minor thing, it’s really quick to get to the PHP manual. This is great for someone switching from another language that isn’t quite familiar with function names and other facets of PHP.

 

Code complete – they’ve done an excellent job on this given that it’s PHP and all file based. It seems to discover variables I really wouldn’t have expected it to.

Syntax highlighting – it’s got it just right. The fact it also highlights variables in strings is great.
Different interface designs – you can choose from a selection of interface designs. I can almost pretend I’m not in XP!

SVN integration – this really is great, especially as the plugin I had for Visual Studio had more bugs than a bug breeding farm (if such a thing exists?)!

To do/bug management – it’s really easy to insert to-do and bug items and there’s a nice little manager window for them.

 

It’s fast – I have a slightly overloaded Lenovo laptop at the moment and even

It’s very stable & bug free – it hasn’t, as yet, crashed once on me.

The support has been fantastic, I’ve asked a series of really stupid questions and had answers within minutes.

 

Price – it’s just right based on the more expensive competition and the fact that there are a number of free alternatives.

 

...

 

My transition from .NET to PHP has been joyful (when are you gonna sort your shit out Microsoft?), a lot of this is down to phpDesigner. For what I assume is a small software company, MPSOFTWARE have done an amazing job. This editor almost makes me want to stay with a PC, even if I do feel slightly out numbered by all of the Macies.

An excellent Web authoring tool, suitable for beginners and advanced programmers alike. Excellent!

phpDesigner is an excellent development tool for beginners and experts alike.

If you are using PHP, then phpDesigner is one of the best editors around.

phpDesigner can help a profession coder as well as a novice to code faster and better.

Experienced web designers, coders and novice developers alike can benefit from this web publishing tool.

It provides you with all the tools required to speed and improve your coding capabilities by providing code parameter hints and syntax coloring. The deployment environment of this tool combines many powerful features such as PHP, HTML, XHTML and so on all combined in this one unique program.

The interface of the program is sophisticated with built-in wizards to help you proceed with ease. It also includes extra tools such as an FTP client, FTP manager, file manager, project manager and many more. The XP-based customizable interface comes with eighteen different themes. Coding looks as good as it gets with the phpDesigner.

phpDesigner provides a comfortable environment with many time saving features - Very Good!

I've just listened to Joe Stagner's MSDN Webcast on PHP and ASP.NET. Although Joe's a Microsoft employee, he's used PHP and gave his demos using Michael Pham's phpDesigner 2005 (beta versions of phpDesigner 2006 also available).

Michael Pham, who was born in 1983 and is a student in Denmark, has maintained phpDesigner as a labor of love over the last six years.

…To be completely honest though, I believe that anybody seriously busting ass on server-side scripting should pay attention to Michael Pham, the developer of phpDesigner and htmlGate.

HTMLGATE 2000 is a text editor for the intermediate to expert user. Along with HTML, it has editing capabilities and tags for Javascript, VBScript, DHTML, support for ASP and XML, its own drag-and-drop FTP program, image tools, a GIF animator, sound recorder, style sheet editor, and clipart... and it's free!

His name is Michael Pham, and he's a 17-year-old from Denmark. The kid gripes me to no end.

At 17, my greatest ambition was to get a date and pay for it by hustling pool. In that same time, Pham has created seven versions of HTMLGate 2000, a text editor that ranks among the better such tools that I have found - and he has a girlfriend. In fact, there is only one feature that would keep me from doing away with the rest of my HTML programs and using HTMLGate exclusively - it doesn't have word wrap in the editing window.

Granted, as my own teen-agers are quick to point out, when I was 17 there were no such things as computers. According to them, there were also no such things as pencil, paper, the wheel, and fire. No wonder I can't wait for them to go away to college.

What Pham has created is an HTML editor for the intermediate to expert user. Not only is it an HTML editor, but it also has editing capabilities and tags for Javascript, VBScript, DHTML, support for ASP and XML, its own drag-and-drop FTP program, image tools, a GIF animator, sound recorder, style sheet editor, and clipart.

Other features include a frame editor, CodeSweeper, Body Grabber, Flash- Shockwave- & ActiveX Support, improved Auto-Complete, PHP, CSS, CGI, SMIL, HDML, VHTML, and Cookies implementation and support.

Did I mention that I could dunk a basketball at age 17?

Pham not only includes the tools to make those scripts, but he also provides dozens of scripts from the various languages to use on your web sites.

That brings us to the other mystery about the program (the first is not having word wrap) - it is free! Corporate users can pay about $200 for the program, but individuals get it gratis.

There are some bugs in the program, although my test revealed very little. Those, in time, I suspect will be worked out. Hey, the kid is 17 - give him a break!

What Pham has done is try to make things as easy as possible, therefore enabling those using the program to speed along at a fairly rapid rate. His table editor, forms, and frames editors, for example, are straightforward and clean to use.

In fact, he has done a nice job of making the entire interface clean and crisp despite packing tons of material into the program. Many others would do well to learn how he gets so much into a 2.5-MB program.

Most of the common commands are accessible from the typical icon-type buttons at the top of the program. Above that are numerous drop down menus, many with sub-menus, which enable users to get more in-depth with each topic.

The program features both internal and external previews, various multimedia supports, HTML compressor, and a complete list of tags.

At the MPSOFTWARE site, you can also find other free programs from Pham, including JavaScript 2000, Visual Basic Editor 2000, PHP Editor 2000, Perl Editor 2000, SQL Editor 2000, Sybase SQL Editor 2000, C++ Editor 2000, and Drag & Drop FTP 2000.

Pham's stated goal is to satisfy users' requirements for free useful software, and it appears he has done quite well with the donations he has received. It almost makes me feel guilty about charging kids protection money at the inner-city high school I attended.

So now Pham is generous, too. I guess, as I conclude this review I am left with only two questions: Can the kid play pool? Can he dunk a basketball?