DelphiForPHP is an integrated development environment (IDE) for PHP developers (i.e. a smart code editor with a built-in debugger). Yes, there are other PHP IDEs available (Zend, PHPEclipse and Eclipse PDT, to name three), but this one offers a twist. Like its namesake, Delphi, this one incorporates a “visual component Library” (VCL) that is intended to make PHP page development simply a matter of dragging components from a palette and dropping them onto the page. In other words, it’s a WYSIWYG page designer. This will supposedly bring “rapid application development” (RAD) to the PHP world, as Delphi did for the Pascal world.
Overall Impression: DelphiForPHP has the potential to kick ass on a PHP project that is started from scratch. It’s not quite so impressive at jumping in and working with an existing PHP application. For one thing, there is no facility for reverse engineering an existing PHP file as a “form” (page), so it is not possible to take advantage of the WYSIWYG form designer to make edits. The good news is that switching back and forth between running the application in a browser and making further refinements to the code in the IDE is fast and easy (as you’d expect for a PHP application).
The Name Game: The original Delphi is an IDE for writing Windows programs in Pascal. It was developed by Borland International. Borland also developed similar IDEs for C++ and Java, called C++ Builder and JBuilder. Recently, Borland divested itself of these tools, by spinning off a new company called CodeGear. CodeGear is currently on tour, showcasing the latest release of Delphi (Delphi 2007), as well as DelphiForPHP 1.0. The DelphiForPHP name is a bit of a misnomer — an obvious a marketing ploy. There are only two things that are “Delphi” about it: (1) DelphiForPHP itself happens to be written in Delphi, and (2) the DelphiForPHP IDE resembles the Delphi IDE in form and function, but the resemblance is only skin deep. It does not actually share any of the Delphi code base. Indeed, DelphiForPHP was written by a third party and only recently acquired by CodeGear.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Having a dedicated IDE (editor and debugger) that understands PHP is definitely a boon here, even for maintenance. Some people might easily justify the $300 price tag. One big advantage DelphiForPHP has over the two PHP flavors of the Eclipse IDE, for example, is that it is much faster to set up. Just run the installer and point it to your WAMP stack (XAMPP is recommended), and that’s pretty much it. Getting Eclipse set up to run with PHP, on the other hand, can be quite a chore — especially when it comes to getting a debugger to work right — even for someone who’s quite familiar with using Eclipse with Java.
How the IDE Features Measure Up:
- DelphiForPHP has “Code Insight” (a.k.a. code completion). Type in the first couple of letters of a name (variable, function, etc.) and then hold down the control key while pressing the spacebar and it will pop up a list of possible values, beginning with the ones that are probably most appropriate for the context.
- The IDE also offers code templates for common idioms such as for-loops. The list of predefined templates is sparse (about a dozen), but you can easily define your own.
- The amount of PHP reference material that is available via context-sensitive help is quite impressive. (They took the publicly available PHP manual and converted it to a Windows help file.)
- The syntax highlighting for a PHP file leaves a lot to be desired. About the one thing it’s good at is highlighting the braces or parentheses that enclose whatever PHP code the cursor is currently on, which is certainly a big help. However, it provides no help for syntax highlighting of the HTML that’s embedded in the PHP.
- The number of options available on the preferences page is underwhelming. Mostly, there are the old familiar Delphi editor options (e.g. Smart indenting, undo after save, group undo), but not much beyond that.
- The dozen or so PHP-specific options that do exist are quite cryptic. Nowhere is there any option to run in a PHP 4 compatibility mode (you can’t). And nowhere in the IDE help file does it even mention PHP version numbers whatsoever. On the other hand, the PHP reference help file does include version information pertaining to when functions were introduced.
More Like a Version 0.8: The reason I made a big deal about Delphi for PHP not having a code base in common with the actual Delphi is that it is missing many of the bells and whistles that anyone who is familiar with Delphi might expect. This includes basic functionality such as commenting out a block of code, indenting/outdenting a block of code, and keystroke macro recording. Similarly, the help file for the IDE itself is sorely lacking. It contains only about half of the information that I expected to see.
Short Trial Period: DelphiForPHP has a 14-day free trial version that can be downloaded. That’s pretty short for a trial period these days, so be sure that you can set aside enough time to dedicate to it.
DelphiForPHP
Latest Version: “1.0”
Platform: Any version of Windows, including Vista.
Author: CodeGear (Borland spin-off)
Price: $299 + $99 for annual maintenance
Download Link (14-day trial): www.codegear.com/Products/Delphi/DelphiforPHP/tabid/237