Notepad/Wordpad combo all the way. That is what I learned PHP & HTML on... and now I also use Dreamweaver, although I know it has it's faults- I still love it like a dysfunctional child.

I think that learning with notepad/wordpad is the best way to go... it's like eating saltines for a year, and then suddenly someone puts a big bowl of chocolate pudding in front of you. Yeah, it's not perfect and it will probably make you sick, but WOW you are SO impressed with how much better it is than what you had.

I still code PHP in notepad/wordpad but I'm considering taking the plunge and getting that chocolate pudding as it were.

Some good PHP Editor ideas on here.. thanks!

-Elizabeth

    I learned on NotePad but I like winsyntax its only downfall is the color schemes but the editor is just like notepad. I am going to try out Xphp not sure if I will like it. I also like the dos editor go to the windows command line and type edit 🙂

    But if I don't like Xphp I am going to use either winsyntax or notepad 🙂

      I do it all from my head SKILL lol

        Hi,

        i use UltraEdit or MED for editing.

        both supports syntax highlighting and have a file browser.
        in MED you can also define projects (remeber file list and open all the files on startup)

        i tried the zend studio editor es well, but it's not as powerfull as ue oder MED (espacially in replacements a.s.o.)

        there's only an autocomplete function missing in ue and MED. 🙁

          I also use PHP Edit. It is quite buggy and the website is seriously 'under construction' (the debug and FAQ pages are completely empty) but I like the auto-prompt, colour-coding, line numbering and so on. The automatic completion can be a pain, as it often gives you what you don't want and you have to delete it. You can probably switch it off somehow.

          I like the feature which fades the code sections when you switch from PHP to HTML and vice versa, so only the appropriate code is in colour.

          When you save, you often get error messages, but the file still saves. The messages are good French practice, though: Erreur dans le module ...

          The installation routine is good French practice :-).

          Bonne chance!

          Norman

            5 days later

            For those still using pico (not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that)......nano is superior. They've added a 'replace' function that's real useful....for example, converting scripts written when register_globals was "ON"......

            Also, it seems to have a better understanding of backspace/delete....

            A while back I pulled down "AnyEdit" to run on a win9x box at home, and it segfaulted immediately...... so I've not done any research into anything 'fancier' at this time.....

            dalecosp

              Originally posted by dannys
              Both EditPlus and UltraEdit can open/save files over FTP. I'm sure there are plenty more.

              Oh, I'm in love now. I've been using EditPlus for quite a while now and I love it. However, I didn't know about this feature. There is no way I'm switching editors now 🙂

              I did try HTML-Kit a while back, but it seems a little sluggish to me, and that's not something I like in a text editor.

              As for my system, my desktop is running Windows XP Professional and my server is running Mandrake 9.0. I do my editing on my desktop and then upload to my server (used to use FlashFXP for the transfers, but now that I know that EditPlus will do it automatically for me, I won't need to use that anymore).

              --kinadian

                tbh I have downloaded Context and it goes straight in the "ANNOYING EDITOR" basket. I hate those editors where you can press right arrow and just keep going on a line that ends nowhere...

                  hehe, I can understand what you are saying. What editor do you use?

                    MSE (Microsoft Script Editor, macro editor in Word 200x, core editor of the Visual Studio)
                    No PHP syntax highlighting but great editor (vertical Select, regexp search and replace, need I say more?)

                      • [deleted]

                      • Post #126

                      There is only one editor worth having HTML Kit

                        Originally posted by allen_coombs
                        There is only one editor worth having HTML Kit

                        I used HTML-Kit for a little while, but I found it really slugglish. It was as though there were so many features that it slowed the whole program down (akin to Microsoft Office products). This is why I switced to EditPlus. Then recently I found out that EditPlus has FTP capabilities, so I was hooked 🙂

                        --kinadian

                          5 days later

                          I agree with "kinadian" - i use Edit++. I haven't used anything else, although a friend did try to introduce me to Xemacs, and i have heard of people swearing by notepad.

                            The great thing about EditPlus is, if your server isn't on your local machine, you can FTP in and edit them directly off the server. Saving the file automatically uploads the new version of the file.

                            EditPlus also has syntax highlighting which many people believe is a cheat at code. I believe all it does it make it easier for you to spot your mistakes (I do not use auto completion, though EditPlus supports it).

                            Most people swear by notepad because it gives you complete control. EditPlus does not take any control away from you, it makes your whole development experience less about the little things (debugging your code for hours until you find that " that you somehow didn't type, uploading the files yourself) and more about the actual code (which for me ends up being easier to read with the highlighting).

                            The way I see if, if you want to use NotePad, power to you. Hell, if you want to use Frontpage, that's your choice. Personally, I'd never even think about loading up the program, (I don't even install it when I install MS Office). But just because I use EditPlus, or someone uses UltraEdit (another popular one that is simiilar in features to EditPlus) then that doesn't mean we are any less of a programmer.

                            Use what you want, and then just smile and nod when people start ranting about Notepad. 😃

                            --kinadian

                              I agree - there seem to be a lot of people intent on making their life harder for themselves by not embracing such features as syntax highlighting.

                              Any fool can use it to help them spot mistakes - if that makes you more efficient at coding, then all the better.

                              Obviously people using notepad are getting paid by the hour, and want to earn more money or something!

                                Originally posted by crickettdt
                                I agree - there seem to be a lot of people intent on making their life harder for themselves by not embracing such features as syntax highlighting.

                                for me the eyestrain of most syntax highlighting makes for greater eye strain. Being 38, I notice things like flickering monitors and "angry fruit salad interface colors" more now than I once did.

                                I prefer white on black text for editing, and since I'm pretty good at not making syntax errors I don't need syntax highlighting very much really. When I do make a syntax error, it's invariably either a missed ; or an extra , in a function call, neither of which syntax highlighting seems to help.

                                The most important features for me in an editor are that it not wrap my lines, cut and paste, and search and replace. pico does all those with ease, so I still use it. It's also a hands only editor, I never need to touch my mouse. I hate moving back and forth when coding.

                                  Originally posted by Sxooter

                                  The most important features for me in an editor are that it not wrap my lines, cut and paste, and search and replace. pico does all those with ease, so I still use it. It's also a hands only editor, I never need to touch my mouse. I hate moving back and forth when coding.

                                  Didn't know pico did search and replace....I went to nano instead. I'm very with you on the 'keyboard only' thing, though.

                                    started coding for real with VI, think I use the mouse? 😉

                                    one very important feature for me is regexp search and replace... Looks like I am the only one...