hmm, tough question for me. i have (had actually) so many favorites depending on context. but definitely it’s interesting to write here about them
1. notepad – i am a notepad fan, for a very long time since 98 to 2006 and still i like it very much. but well, after that i’d found notepad++ and i liked it for it’s outstanding syntax highlighting features. if by any chance, i have to use windows these days, i work in notepad++
2. visual studio 6: yup, i must agree it is one of the best ide i’ve ever came in touch with. i have worked on visual basic for a long time (99 to 2006) and i was simply in love with visual studio ide. and it’s awesome intellisense + gui designer was the center of the attraction.
3. zend studio: i still use it. its one of my most favorite ide because of it’s os independent distribution. i like most of the features in it (SQL editor, subversion support, FTP etc) and ofcourse the feature to check the output of yourcode inside it. the object inspector is really a very cool feature. and i also use “find in files” feature very often to find the file i am particularly looking to edit. oh by the way – i use the old version (the non-eclipse version) and still use the 5.5.1 version for my everyday development.
4. phped: its a good editor for windows (never tried it’s linux version) but for some unknown reason i’ve failed to get used to with it.
5. netbeans: its superb 
i like it very much. but as i am used to with zend studio i dont use it much. but i always suggest netbeans to someone who is looking for a decent and powerful ide for php (well, yeah also for java specially for the outstanding GUI designer for swing based apps)
6. aptana studio and spket ide : both of them are very very good for editing javascript. i use spket in linux for it’s small footprint. and aptana studio in my regular home and office machines.
6. nano – yeah it is the latest editor that i use almost everyday. you know it is available in both linux and mac. so i use it frequently in my local dev platform (mac osx based) and remote machines (linux based). and it is much more easier than vi – i know vi(m) is a very good editor and there are millions of user of vi(m), so what? if i can’t find it useful then i wont use it – i find nano is very handy and easy to use. i have enabled php syntax highlighting in nano (via nanoarc) and it works really cool in shell
i dont like eclipse. there is no particular reason but for some unknown reason (i remember one, extremely resource hungriness and large footprint) i never feel comfortable with it. i use only one eclipse based ide (aptana) becoz there is no other good alternative to it. and only for this reason i also don’t use the new zend studio.
so hey, what is your favorite ide?
74 responses so far ↓
ranacse05 // May 31, 2009 at 7:09 pm |
thanks for this post.
Lenin // May 31, 2009 at 7:10 pm |
Likings :
NotePad++
NetBeans PHP IDE 6.7
ZendStudio
Kate
Md Emran Hasan // May 31, 2009 at 7:12 pm |
My fav has been NuSphere PHPEd for the last 2 years (thanks to them for the free license they provided me). It is a superb IDE and speeds up the development a lot.
However, from last week i’ve started with NetBeans and I’m sticking with it – it’s a good one
Elvis T // May 31, 2009 at 7:39 pm |
Notepad++ ftw~
Himel // May 31, 2009 at 7:48 pm |
My favorites are (according to serial of choice) –
]
(1) Netbeans For php
(2) Zend Studio
(3) Nusphere PhpEd
(4) Notepad++ [specially for indenting code
Dan Leinir Turthra Jensen // May 31, 2009 at 7:49 pm |
KDevelop4, of which the third beta was just released. While still a touch on the crashy side with the PHP support, it is, for want of a better word, awesome
And since the debugger framework is being written by one of the people behind the PHP support in KDevelop4, well, you can guess what that means for the debugger 
Christof Damian // May 31, 2009 at 7:58 pm |
I like eclipse, because of the good subversion and bugzilla integration. I also like that I can use it on Linux and Windows and it has very good support for Linux / Fedora development and supports lots of languages.
It can be a bit of a memory and CPU hog though, but I found this more of a problem on Windows then on Linux.
djn // May 31, 2009 at 8:11 pm |
Notepad++ with the DBGp debugger plugin
Andy Walpole // May 31, 2009 at 8:16 pm |
phpDesigner 2008 for me – it does everything I would expect a good IDE to do
I’ll have to check out netbeans sometime
robo47 // May 31, 2009 at 8:25 pm |
The years i used Windows it was:
Editplus for simple Editing
PHPEclipse and later Eclipse with PDT as IDE
On Linux (Ubuntu) at the beginning:
Gedit as Editor
Eclipse with PDT as IDE
and Eclipse got replaced by Netbeans sme time ago
Jensen // May 31, 2009 at 8:35 pm |
On Windows I use Notepad++ for quick editing. Eclipse PDT (because it’s free) for advanced PHP editing. I went back and forth between Netbeans, but I am missing some features which made me go back to Eclipse. For languages such as C, C++ and C# I use Visual Studio of course.
On Linux I use Vim with a bunch of plugins. Works OK in most cases (and for most languages) but now and then I fall back to Eclipse PDT too.
Chimerafun // May 31, 2009 at 8:48 pm |
I find the best cocktail of editors for me is Coda by panicware (www.panic.com) with a large helping of vim. Coda provides enough niceties while maintaining its performance level, vim lets me gets in and work the test and debug cycle really quick.
ik_5 // May 31, 2009 at 8:53 pm |
(g)vim, lazarus, kate, gedit
Clod // May 31, 2009 at 9:31 pm |
In order of usage…and sometimes depending on the mood. c”,)
1. Komodo Edit
2. Aptana Studio
3. Zend Studio
4. VIM
5. Intype
Thomas Schaaf // May 31, 2009 at 9:40 pm |
VS.Php which is a Plugin for Visual Studio
schkovich // May 31, 2009 at 9:53 pm |
NetBeans
MySql Workbench
Illiatis StepIn Standalone (mySql debug)
I was on Eclipse since the fist version of PDT but I have no nerve for it any more. Nomen est omen.
Sjan // May 31, 2009 at 10:06 pm |
I find that jEdit covers my needs pretty well for PHP, Perl, JavaScript, CSS & HTML. I use Idle for Python, because of its handling of indentation, code hinting and quick access to a running shell to test with.
I have tried Eclipse with PDT a couple times on my Mac but couldn’t keep it running. I will admit to liking Notepad++ for Windows. I just don’t usually do any coding in Windows.
Shafqat Ahmed // May 31, 2009 at 10:22 pm |
1. Visual Studio for .NET/HTML/CSS/JS stuff.
2. IntelliJ IDEA – Best Java Editor, Eclipse is good as well.
3. Twistpad for other types of editing, Notepad ++ is almost as good.
Greg // May 31, 2009 at 10:32 pm |
Vim is the editor of my choice. I can understand why people don’t like it though. It has a steep learning curve.
jesus // May 31, 2009 at 10:56 pm |
I like editors that let me use upper case characters. You don’t seem to.
Also, Notepad2.
Taylan // May 31, 2009 at 11:52 pm |
First I used edit+ a long time. Now I use pspad. Its simple, free, very useful and open source.
Nate // July 17, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I second PSPad, it small has FTP when you need it and does several languages (highlighting).
asif huque // June 1, 2009 at 12:14 am |
i use visual studio 2008 for .net and zend studio for php. these have the best debugging support.
Zakaria Chowdhury // June 1, 2009 at 12:30 am |
I love Geany very much. It is light-weight, fast & effective.
http://www.geany.org
Mahmudul Hasan // June 1, 2009 at 5:12 am |
I use emacs almost for everything.
Mohammad Elkersh // June 1, 2009 at 7:36 am |
Eclipse PDT (For PHP)
NetBeans, JDeveloper (For Java)
GEdit (Very Great for PHP)
Nano (When connecting with SSH)
Arafat Rahman // June 1, 2009 at 9:59 am |
1. NetBeans
2. Zend Studio
3. Adobe Dreamweaver
4. Ultra Edit
5. Aptana
saidur Rahman bijon // June 1, 2009 at 11:43 am |
1. Zend Studio
)
2. Php Eclipse
3. notepadd++
4. Adobe Dreamweaver (lots of time think not to use , but cannot leave it
5.PhpEd
petitchevalroux // June 1, 2009 at 3:22 pm |
1 Zend 5.5.1 (6.x is laggy and full of bug)
2 vi for editing files from ssh
3 Mousepad when I am lazy
richsage // June 1, 2009 at 4:25 pm |
Vim for most things Linux although not so much in Windows as I find gVim clunky and Cygwin isn’t really that useful for me. I do use Netbeans for Java-based development, but for anything else I find it’s a real memory hog – probably because I don’t do enough Java development and therefore don’t notice it
Nurul // June 1, 2009 at 4:39 pm |
Adobe Dreamweaver
NuSphere PHPEd
PSPad
Zend Studio
Dunrobin // June 1, 2009 at 9:39 pm |
I used to use WeBuilder 2008, but in the past few months I’ve found myself using phpDesigner 2008 almost exclusively.
Jakefolio // June 1, 2009 at 9:48 pm |
Zend Studio/PDT
NetBeans
Textmate
E (windows version of textmate)
Komodo Edit
Dreamweaver (HTML)
CSS Edit (CSS)
lori // June 1, 2009 at 10:14 pm |
Komodo Edit has been my #1 editor for a while now. Before that, I liked BBEdit and Coda.
Matthew Weier O'Phinney // June 1, 2009 at 10:19 pm |
Unix is my IDE: vim, grep and ack (no, not awk, ack), phpunit, shell, etc. I can do as much or more with these than in any formal IDE I’ve used.
Reinhold Weber // June 1, 2009 at 10:38 pm |
99% of the time I use Textmate with many additional bundles for PHP, PYthon, Ruby, CSS, ….
On Terminal I prefer nano over vi
Hasin Hayder’s Blog: What is your favorite IDE/editor for writing code? | Webs Developer // June 1, 2009 at 11:01 pm |
[...] PHP world than which framework is the best is each developer’s choice of IDEs. Hasin Hayder lists several popular choices and some of his thoughts on each. Hmm, tough question for me. i have (had actually) so many [...]
Brendon // June 1, 2009 at 11:26 pm |
eclipse pdt, macvim, and eclim
Amokrane // June 2, 2009 at 12:18 am |
1/ Visual Studio for .NET
2/ Code::Blocks for C++.
3/ PSPad for PHP/web programming.
Gilzow // June 2, 2009 at 12:39 am |
NuSphere PHPeD for all things php-related
Apatana Studio for javascript, (X)HTML and CSS
Visual Studio for .Net stuff (though I try not to have to do any if I can get away with it)
I’ve tried both Net Beans and Zend Studio, but both of them were extremely slow for me.
Michael Dennis // June 2, 2009 at 12:40 am |
NetBeans and Komodo Edit
nhm tanveer hossain khan // June 2, 2009 at 12:55 am |
well, to me IDE is like a sharp sword, this can cut off anything i want, but if i can’t control, it can cut off my head too because of my wrong use.
i have been using IntelliJ IDEA for last 5 years, i can cut off anything through this cutting edge IDE. i was used to write java code using it, later wrote PHP and Ruby code using this cutting edge IDE.
love it and respect it..
my advice to all, try to stick with one IDE, dont switch IDE unless that sux, learning thousands of IDE is not at all a creditable thing to talk
best wishes,
Andreas // June 2, 2009 at 1:15 am |
On Mac OS:
TextMate (for everyday all-purpose stuff)
Zend Studio (5.x) (for larger PHP-projects)
BBedit (like TextMate but I like the really cool diff-funcionality)
jEdit (if TextMate and BBedit fail…)
Kristian Lunde // June 2, 2009 at 2:09 am |
1. Eclipse with PDT
2. Smultron (Mac software) everyday all purpose editor
3. Kate
4. Vi
5. Notepad++
Bert-Jan // June 2, 2009 at 3:33 am |
I’m still a big fan of Zend Studio 5.5.1. I’ve upgraded the license to the Eclipse version but I can’t get used to it. It almost never responds with the autocompletion as 5.5.1 does (saves me half of the work on code) and it doesn’t have line wrapping which I use regularly. The ftp and svn integration in 5.5.1 is usable but not very good. Svn in Eclipse is just perfect but (s)ftp support through that Remote Systems thing is just awful.
ptdorf // June 2, 2009 at 4:42 am |
http://www.blumentals.net/webuilder/ and i never looked back
Kevin Korb // June 2, 2009 at 11:37 am |
For PHP: ZendStudio 5.5. The eclipse version is crap, netbeans was nice, but didn’t want to code hint my static methods without holding down a key-combo which was annoying. Also netbeans didn’t have a good remote server option just to get into a few files and create a project for them like ZS 5 has.
I also use pico/nano for remote server config changes.
I tried Aptana, but hate eclipse.
Good post.
mobarak ali // June 2, 2009 at 12:18 pm |
Last few days I’m looking for something like this post!
artur // June 2, 2009 at 1:00 pm |
Ultraedit
Chris // June 2, 2009 at 2:02 pm |
E-texteditor (Windows TextMate Clone)
Stylizer (CSS editing made awesome)
Romac // June 2, 2009 at 3:15 pm |
TextMate ! (http://www.macromates.com)
John D Jones III // June 2, 2009 at 9:02 pm |
Vim
karussell // June 2, 2009 at 9:17 pm |
http://karussell.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/why-netbeans/
covers my highlights on NetBeans 6.1
hasin // June 2, 2009 at 9:23 pm
NetBeans is superb, but as it is said – i really dont like to hit some keys to get the auto suggestions for the completion of functions.
-
John // June 3, 2009 at 12:43 am |
EditPlus still briliant after all these years
keep trying all of the others listed here but they all have one or ten things that drive me nuts !
Hate the fact that Zend is java – slow and crap as ever other java program ever in the name of compatability
David W. // June 3, 2009 at 12:46 am |
I use a whole slew, no real stand-out favorites I guess. Depends on the language I’m working with or whatever catches my fancy. Ordered roughly by how often I use them:
Linux (my main system):
vim (mostly command line, occasionally gvim, frequently cmd line via ssh)
Eclipse / Aptana
kate
jEdit
komodo edit (I haven’t tried their full IDE yet)
NetBeans
KDevelop 4
Windows (when I have to):
Dreamweaver
vim
Visual Studio 2008
Editpad Pro
phpDesigner
Justin Caratzas // June 3, 2009 at 2:49 am |
hmmm… didn’t see emacs anywhere so…
1. emacs for software coding projects
2. vi for quick bash scripting, config file editing, etc.
Mahmoud M. Abdel-Fattah // June 3, 2009 at 3:51 am |
1. phpED
2. phpDesigner
Carlos Aguado // June 3, 2009 at 3:57 pm |
It’s clear, I go for KISS:
1. My own Apache-PHP-MySQL stack
2. Dreamweaver
3. Ultra Edit
4. Firefox + Web Developer Toolbar + Firebug
5. MSIE + Opera + Chrome + Safari + etc
6. My brain and hands.
… all on top of plain Windows XP. Yes, that’s right, XP, I’m not crazy at all… it works great with a little bit of tweaking and tunning…
Wim Paulussen // June 3, 2009 at 6:23 pm |
on Windows
- jEdit
- Komodo Edit
- NetBeans for PHP
- Vim
on Linux
- jEdit
- Komodo Edit
-Vim
- kate (not recently)
Of lately I am very impressed by Komodo Edit. I removed NetBeans because too much bloat.
Justin // June 4, 2009 at 7:50 am |
Aptana Studio Pro is tops for me. I liked Komodo Edit as well, but it just bogged down my Mac.
Allan on Web » Blog Archive » Best IDE/Editor for programmer // June 4, 2009 at 12:09 pm |
[...] an article about “Best editor for programmer“, today I found a good post about “what is your favorite IDE/editor for writing code?“. It is a good second opinion to help people choose their favorite [...]
chrisweb // June 4, 2009 at 12:45 pm |
don’t understand why you don’t like eclipse pdt? its my favorite! the new eclipse 3.5 an the pdt 2.1 with xdebug is amazing, its fast, easy to use and very powerfull
Federico GonzAlez // June 5, 2009 at 12:54 am |
Quanta Plus over Kubuntu
Chris Henry // June 5, 2009 at 10:02 am |
I, also, am a fan of eclipse’s php offering. I really like the fact that I can write code, and not have to rely on my own eyes or the server to check for syntax. Also, the Alt-Click to go to a function definition is invaluable, and worth any other inconveniences.
Gixx // June 5, 2009 at 8:01 pm |
Zend Studio for Eclipse 6.1.1.
A bit buggy because of the Eclipse base, but its GUI is more comfortable than the others’.
Ishtiaque Ahmed // June 8, 2009 at 10:26 am |
I love notepad++. I don’t have a mac and thus not able to use textmate. According to me its a must for any developer. I hope someday I will work with textmate. That will be a dream come true. To survive till then, I have found a step-brother of textmate on windows. It almost copied almost every textmate feature. Its called “e” text editor. check it out at http://www.e-texteditor.com/ . I am using a cracked copy of it(the cracked one has some problems, bundle modules not get initialized properly). But I am planning to buy a licensed copy later this year.
Christoph // June 14, 2009 at 7:40 pm |
I’ve been using SlickEdit and it’s been great. Tons of great features and customizable to boot.
ali // June 20, 2009 at 6:20 am |
i use netbeans for php, c++, html/css, javascript. And i have tried aptana and i thought netbeans is better for javascript it have some bugs but I feel comfortable with netbeans javascript ..
Nasim // June 21, 2009 at 1:36 am |
My favourite is textmate. It’s the VIM with a twist.
Hasin, you do like Eclipse. Aptana IS Eclipse.
hasin // June 21, 2009 at 1:40 am |
thanks everyone for your valuable opinions
@Nasim – yes i know Aptana is eclipse and I’ve mentioned why I’m forced to use that. There is no good alternative of Aptana, its superb.
But yeah, these days I am trying to use Netbeans for that. Eclipse is really too much for me
Netfloat // July 11, 2009 at 9:35 am |
my editor goes to Komodo Edit, Freeware version of Komodo IDE
Rupok // July 11, 2009 at 2:34 pm |
আমি Notepad++, Zend Studio, ar Visual Studio 6 ব্যবহার করেছি… বাকীগুলো ব্যবহার করার মত এক্সপার্টাইস এখনো হয় নাই
আর টুকিটাকি কাজের জন্য মাইক্রোসফট এক্সপ্রেশন ওয়েব মজাদার
tahsin // August 4, 2009 at 4:01 pm |
see more zend php 5 certification preparation questions on newdailyblog.blogspot.com