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I'm not looking for a "religious discussion" here, but I want to know the Pros and Cons of both development environments. I'm on the Mac, btw.

openfrog
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  • There was a similar question asked lately: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1903004/eclipse-pdt-vs-netbeans-for-php-development – MiseryIndex Dec 20 '09 at 15:56

4 Answers4

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Check Smashing Magazine's Big PHP IDE Test.

An IDE is supposed to ease development and support you in your workflows. Thus, the easiest way to find the right one, is to try and see for yourself, which one best suits your needs.

Gordon
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    The above is a 2009 comparison. Here is a 2013 comparison https://blog.idrsolutions.com/2013/07/what-we-love-and-hate-about-java-ides-eclipse/ – MarcoZen May 08 '15 at 09:32
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    I personally do php work with netbeans + notepad++ , best bang for the buck ( 0 ) as compared to phpstorm ,eclipse and a few others... 2015 comparison – MarcoZen May 08 '15 at 09:34
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I would go with netbeans. using it for a year for large project and everything i need is in front of me.

My vote goes to NetBeans.

Andreas
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Not a NetBeans user, but a heads up on a few pro's of Eclipse PDT:

  • Code completion & bracket matching.
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Ease of project importing
  • HTML, CSS & JavaScript support
  • Excellent SVN integration.
  • Cross platform (PC/Mac/Linux)
  • Debugging.

Haven't really found any downfalls other than it seems to use around 120-150meg of RAM... Which I personally am not too bothered about. A lot of the features are included in most other IDE's, I think choice is more down to preference than a 'which is better' argument.

BenTheDesigner
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    Eclipse without PDT doesn't do nothing. On the other hand NetBeans do all of the list plus package support, samples, SASS/LESS and much more stuff. You can start working on PHP project straight ahead, download js libraries without bower etc. With Eclipse you need to fight with adding plugins, managing the windows drag drop left right top bottom ehh.. to much hassle – fearis May 21 '15 at 01:24
  • When comparing two systems, pros that are valid for both systems aren't really helpful. – Fuzzy76 Dec 22 '15 at 13:15
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I agree with the first response. Your mileage WILL very, and it will very based upon the kinds of tools you are used to using, and whether or not you have any previous experience with either of the tools.

I personally would recommend eclipse, but not because I think it is better, or because I use it. Rather, I would pick eclipse because it is a robust open source ide that is used by developers in many many languages. I think, from my experience, it will be easier to find those around you in user groups and a professional environment, and if you ever get the chance to use Zend Studio, the eclipse familiarity you would already have would be awesome.

Some cons on the eclipse side, however,

Debugging must be configured manually. PHPUnit is not itegrated, and must be setup as an external tool. Memory usage. No integrated checkstyle.

Pro's not mentioned: Excellent CVS and SVN plugins, including diff and compare, a patch creation and application utility, and sychronize views that make parallel development far friendlier.

Customizable to the tee!

Long running project that has been hammered on pretty heavily over the years.

JC.
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  • Zend Studio for Eclipse has PHPUnit Support. But in contrast to Eclipse it is not free. See PDT vs ZS comparison here http://www.zend.com/en/products/studio/comparison – Gordon Dec 20 '09 at 17:50