Zend Studio and why I can't live without it

Kalle over at TalkPHP posted a thread recently asking about peoples favourite PHP editors and I couldn't help but notice that a lot of people where using fairly basic text editors (eg, Notepad) or text editors with basic structuring and formatting options.

I'm completely the opposite and would struggle to write any PHP code without Zend Studio IDE (v5.5, not keen on the Eclipse beta). As such, here's my top ten reasons why you should be using an IDE (well, Zend Studio) over notepad for writing PHP applications :)

10. Profiler - The profiler tools allow me to quickly see where any bottlenecks are occurring. This can be a real time saver when optimizing final code ready for release.

9. PHPDocumentor - We always use PHPDoc-style comments within our code so having PHPDocumentor built directly into Zend Studio is very handy.

8. FTP Support - Another handy little tool when I am not using a local development server. Saving / opening file directly to/from the FTP server is a great little addon.

7. CVS / Subversion integration - What to say about this one... Any project with more than one developer will likely be using some sort of version control system. Like FTP support, it's very handy to have the tools built in to Zend Studio

6. Code Analyzer - This is a little tool that runs through your PHP code looking for potential problems that may cause errors or popup notices in your script. It's forever telling me when I use a variable before I've declared it and has often tracked down a nasty bug for me

5. Context-sensitive Help - Put cursor over function, press F1, PHP manual page for that function appears - simple but effective :)

4. Syntax Highlighting - aka, color coding your PHP code. This makes readability so much easier.

3. Goto... - This feature works in a number of ways. For example, if you are using a custom function defined elsewhere in the file (or even another file), you can right-click on it and choose "Goto declaration" and Zend Studio will take you to that function declaration. Great tool if you are working on someone else's code and need to figure out what a function does.

2. Debugger - Gone are the days of putting echo and var_dump statements all over your code to figure out what was going on / wrong. Having a real debugger where you can set breakpoints, watch variables and even change variables when the script is running is priceless.

And finally...

1. Autocomplete and Inline Error Checking - Two for the price of one here :) Autocomplete means you need never remember a function declaration again as it tell you exactly what arguments it needs, what ones are optional, what they do, and much more. It will also finish typing function / variable names for you, close your quotes and brackets, and so much more.
Inline Error Checking - Does what it says on the tin, it highlights errors you make as you make them. For example, forgot a semicolon on the end of a line? No problem, a little red line will appear telling you that you've made an error - hover over this line and it will tell you what you've done wrong. No more running the script then working through the fatal errors and warnings one by one until all is well!

And that concludes my "Buy Zend Studio today!" sales pitch :D

On a serious note though, you all should consider trying out a full PHP IDE such as Zend Studio or PHPEd. Just do all your PHP coding in them for 30 days and I guarantee you that you won't want to go back to your old editor :)