What are the best free PHP editors for Linux and Windows?

More than 25 years after its initial release, the scripting language PHP: Hypertext Processor (PHP) has become a de facto standard for programming dynamic websites and holds a market share that could almost be interpreted as a monopoly. Although numerous other languages such as Python 3, Perl, JavaScript, or even Visual Basic allow for the creation of web applications, collectively they hold a niche share of less than ten percent in terms of server-side software. One of the reasons for this is the relatively easy-to-understand structure of PHP, which enables a quick start with a steep learning curve and rapid success. However, to make programming comfortable and organised, it requires tools and utilities such as free PHP editors or even a complete integrated development environment (IDE).

Contents:
What is the role of PHP editors?
What is the difference between PHP editors and an IDE?
The best PHP editors: Visual Studio Code
The best PHP editors: Atom
The best PHP editors on Linux: Gedit and Kate
The best PHP editors on Windows: Notepad

What is the role of PHP editors?

As a scripting language, PHP is not a compiled program but rather a sequence of written commands that are executed line by line by the PHP interpreter. It is a common and often essential practice to distribute software like a Content Management System (CMS) across numerous scripts, which are only called and processed by the interpreter when needed. Even a seemingly simple tool like PhpMyAdmin used for managing databases consists of an extensive collection of distributed source code - only a few projects like the functionally similar Adminer gather all functions in a single, albeit long, file.

Although in theory it is indeed possible to program PHP using a simple text editor like Microsoft Windows Notepad, this approach proves to be extremely impractical and user-unfriendly even for small tasks. It is therefore generally sensible and advisable to use powerful PHP editors or - for complex projects - a professional Integrated Development Environment (IDE) instead. Both have a range of tasks they should be able to handle:

• Easy input of commands, variables, parameters, and comments
• Colour highlighting of syntax (highlighting) and individual elements
• Parallel and clear management of different files
• Display of structures through directories and dependencies
• Automatic detection of multiple languages like PHP, CSS, HTML, Python, and VisualBasic
• Tools such as line numbering and code structure display
• Word completion for commands, parameters, and once-used or declared variables
• Control and marking of structural elements like round, curly, and square brackets or semicolons
• Completion of multipart commands like For ... do or if ... else
• Automatic indentation of connected paragraphs like functions

Even if no software meets all conditions perfectly, PHP editors are an essential prerequisite for efficient and comfortable programming.

What is the difference between PHP editors and an IDE?

The abbreviation IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment - this is a complex compilation of tools for programming in a language, which includes, for example, interpreters, compilers, debuggers, collections of libraries, and other tools. A central component is also an editor, which, however, embeds into a wide range of additional programs and thus integrates numerous applications, often directly linked to it or a graphical user interface, providing all necessary components in a clear and functional manner. It can significantly ease and speed up development, especially for complex projects and abstract programming languages like C.

In contrast, PHP editors primarily offer the ability to create, write, modify, or control code in a simple and clear manner. In their rudimentary form, they are a plain text editor for ASCII code like Notepad, enhanced with special features such as highlighting. Sophisticated and extensive free PHP editors, such as Visual Studio originally developed by Microsoft for Visual Basic, have numerous features that are typically only found in an IDE. The transition between the two can therefore be fluid in some cases and not always clearly defined.

The Best PHP Editors: Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code, like almost all other applications, is not a specialised PHP editor. It recognises the relevant language based on characteristic features such as file type, structure, unique expressions, or a language declaration at the beginning of a script - for example, the character combination #!/usr/bin/env python commonly used in Linux known as Shebang or Hash-bang - and automatically adapts to it. Visual Studio Code, initially developed by Microsoft for programming in Visual Basic, is largely independent of this project but shares some features and the logo.

What is particularly remarkable about Visual Studio Code is its exceptionally high functionality and flexibility, as well as being free. It natively supports most common programming and markup languages, including PHP, C, C++, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Bash, HTML, CSS, Python, Perl, or Java. Moreover, it is modular in design, and due to its widespread use and popularity, countless extensions are available for free on an integrated marketplace, ranging from PHP debuggers and codesniffers to programming for embedded devices like Arduino, ESP8266, and STM32. Some of its many advantages include:

• Support for nearly all common and several "exotic" languages
• Excellent for complex projects with numerous files
• Auto-completion through Microsoft's IntelliSense
• Integrated debugger with variable breakpoints
• Extremely wide selection of extensions
• Direct integration of GIT for development and version control
• Almost unlimited functionality and application possibilities

Most professional developers use Visual Studio Code, unless they are working with an IDE like Eclipse, which focuses more on complex projects and distributed workflows. Due to being released under the MIT Open Source License, Visual Studio Code is free, but is distributed by Microsoft under its own branding and with special features that grant the company rights to usage data. An alternative is - similar to the Chromium browser based on Google Chrome - VSCodium, which is based directly and exclusively on the open-source source code.

Links:
VSCodium Releases for Linux (RPM, DEB)
Microsoft Windows (MSI Installer, EXE) and Mac OS X
Visual Studio Code for Linux (RPM, DEB)
Microsoft Windows (EXE) and Mac OS X

The Best PHP Editors: Atom

Behind the free source code editor Atom is the version control platform GitHub, which drew inspiration for the software from other text editors like the proprietary Sublime Text and Visual Studio Code. A unique feature of Atom is its unusually flexible graphical interface and customizability through extensions including themes and plugins, leading to its self-description as the "hackable text editor for the 21st Century." The program, like Visual Studio Code or the messaging service Signal, uses the Electron framework also maintained by GitHub, enabling cross-platform software development based on web applications in an integrated Chromium web browser. Its key and most popular features include:

• Support for numerous programming and markup languages
• Highly modular structure for a flexible interface and functionality
• Software, themes, and plugins are subject to open-source licenses with few exceptions
• Over 3000 different themes and approximately 10,000 plugins available for free
• Intelligent syntax highlighting and auto-completion for commands and variables
• Integration of Git and GitHub with comprehensive version/branch control
• Many packages for PHP development including a debugger

Due to its versatility, flexibility, and extremely high functionality in conjunction with countless plugins, many programmers already consider Atom to be its own IDE. However, it is actually a text editor that can be expanded into a development environment based on the size and requirements of a project.

Links:

Atom for Linux (.deb packages)
Atom for Linux (.rpm packages)
Atom for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X

The Best PHP Editors on Linux: Gedit and Kate

Behind Gedit lies the contraction of the Gnome Editor - a standard tool of the graphical interface Gnome on Linux. Although it is a small and rather rudimentary program in its basic equipment, Gedit proves to be surprisingly versatile and supports numerous extensions through plugins such as merging, converting, and splitting documents, word completion, commenting source code, or the ability to capture classes, variables, and functions in a script and display them in a separate tab. The software automatically recognises about a hundred different programming languages and highlights scripts according to their syntax. Some of its features include:

• Very slim and efficient text editor with extremely low resource requirements
• Extensibility with numerous plugins designed for programming
• Syntax highlighting for configuration files and more than 100 programming languages
• Support for direct access to GIT repositories
• Automatic translation of texts into numerous languages
• Launching a command line for running scripts
• Available for Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and FreeBSD
• Open Source under the GPLv3 license
• Optional debugger with XDebug for PHP scripts

An alternative to Gedit commonly used on Linux is Kate, which also offers additional features such as code folding and saving multiple sessions with different files. However, it has significantly more dependencies and lacks other helpful features such as auto-completion of commands and variables, GIT support, or a debugger. Kate is excellent for managing larger projects - but when it comes to efficient programming, Gedit shows its strength, which is based not least on a modular structure with various extensions.

Links:
Gedit for WindowsGedit for Mac OS X
Gedit for Linux: Installation via the package management of the distribution, e.g. apt, rpm, or pacman

The Best PHP Editors on Windows: Notepad

Notepad++ is a source code editor that is designed for programming, following the style of Windows Notepad but with specific focus on programming tasks. It is distributed under the GPLv2 license, making it completely free to use, and also available as a portable version that can be used without prior installation. The application natively supports a wide range of programming and markup languages - including PHP, CSS, HTML, C, C++, Python, Visual Basic, LaTex, Perl, JSON, XML, Java, and JavaScript. Like most PHP editors, Notepad++ supports external plugins to extend its functionality. Some of the advantages of Notepad++ include:

• Syntax highlighting and auto-completion of commands and variables
• Compatibility with ASCII, ANSI, Unicode, as well as Linux and Windows text files
• Ability to open and compare multiple documents in different tabs
• Code folding for collapsible sections like functions
• Support for recorded macros to repeat specific actions
• Modular design with support for licensed or private plugins
• Automatic bracket matching and highlighting of other structural elements

Due to its versatility, Notepad++ has become the go-to tool for editing and programming source code and configuration files on Microsoft Windows. The program is remarkably small and efficient, yet offers a multitude of features that alternatives like Notepad lack.

Link:
Notepad++

Photo: Lawrence Monk on Pixabay