Other than "Raw code" with php/MySQL, what do YOU use?

[Joseph_Sliker]

I know there are all kinds of tools out there to help build php/MySQL based websites, but I have been doing pretty much everything I do for the last 9 years just typing out raw code using Crimson Editor (or doing some fancy little tricks with MySQL queries to generate repetetive types of stuff). I think this has been good for my mind, but not for my efficiency.

What tools or editors or whatevers do some of you greybeards out there use to quickly build data-intensive websites? What's the learning curve like with them?

...just thinking I should start thinking "big picture" at this point, now that I think I understand the basics of php coding.

[big_nerd]

Joseph,

I am unsure of what you are referring to with the question - however, if by data-intensive you mean a heavily database driven website, a good MVC framework such as Zend Framework, Symfony, etc may be the ticket.

The learning curve isn't very steep if you've done C++ or another language where you will be familiar with the MVC structure.

They can use XML & YAML an even generate the SQL statements required to build in the database application, as well as build a custom model (or database routeens, at its most basic level) that will build out most common functionality.

They do have a drawback, since you are loading a ton of libraries (unless you are very careful in the way you implement it) it can be a lot of load for a web server, dependent on the amount of traffic you are expecting.

That being said however, there are MANY top 100k websites (traffic wise) that run on these architectures.

I am personally a fan of Zend Framework, I've only been using it for about 2 years now so I am far from being an expert at it, but coupled with Zend Studio IDE, you have the ability to quickly deploy new controllers, code hinting for your own functions as well as built in, etc.

It's definitely my first choice for a quick deploy project, once you get the hang of it that is.

[Joseph_Sliker]

The only formal coursework I have had in computers was a course in Microsoft Visual Basic, and another in Microsoft Access about 10 years ago. Everything else has been learned on top of that "by the seat of my pants" (and with vast amouunts of excellent help from the good people on this site)...in php and MySQL. So no, I am not familiar with C++. I have done just a couple of teeny tiny little things with javascript (basically stealing some other person's donated code and spending days tweaking it little by little until it seems to do what I need from it...with no "big picture" comprehension of why it does what it does.)

The stuff I build tends to be sites in which multiple users need to log in and deposit new data about such things as student test performance, surveys as well as the user's own daily activities (ie. A calendar system from which location and activity type reports and graphs can be generated).

I started out just using a PuTTY connection to get to the MySQL server to create the tables for my database. Then I found out about phpMyAdmin which is a big help.

So basically, I would wish for an application that helps me to quickly build data-entry, and record-editing forms along the required save/update scripts. I can usually build these myself in "raw code" with Crimson Editor (or similar text editors) without too much difficulty but no matter how clever I think I am coming up with this stuff, I find that my ability to respond to the forever-expanding ideas and demands of my end-users (who, of course have no comprehension of what such programming involves) is never fast enough.

I want to make things increasingly easy for them as they have a terribly demanding job (public education of the children of resentful taxpayers who apparently would prefer that we bean-count ourselves to death rather than actually spend time teaching kids...but I digress)...so the quicker I can turn their good ideas into more efficient functional improvements in our web applications, the better for everyone.

[iceomnia]

Nice question...

Zend Framework: I have been using PHP almost since it's inception and around 5 years ago I discovered Zend Framework, never looked back. It's work in progress, but it contains everything you would need to rapidly create MVC sites.

I wasn't sure if you were talking about IDEs, so:

Eclipse: There is an eclipse project dedicated to PHP and it's free called Eclipse PDT. It has an extremely advanced class/function navigator, so that (like Zend Dev) you can simply hold control whilst hovering over any function, click and it will take you to that function. - Has a php code sniffer plugin and a phpunit plugin.

Lastly, and one of the best things ever invented for PHP:

PHPUnit: PHPUnit is a unit testing framework for PHP. This allows you to run [unit] tests on your code in a controlled environment before using your classes/functions in live code.

[cretaceous]

these aren't directly pertinent but do make life easier:

two monitors can help enormously

I find 'beyond compare' - code comparison tool very useful - you can get two scripts side by side and it highlights the differences and lets you copy lines from one to the other (can also do a compare on contents of folders)

version control software (subversion /SVN/Git) can be a life saver, but if you work on your own it may seem time consuming until you really need it.. that is, when it's actually too late and you overwrote code you want to go back to (also provides code compare)

I would also like to get faster