PHP Studio (Mac OS X)

[ktinkel]

Today I downloaded a 10-launch demo of PHP Studio (http://www.neometricsoftware.com/?page=products&product=phpstudio) from NeoMetric Software, described by its maker as …
… a complete, elegant, and hugely usable PHP code editor. … PHP Studio isn't an extension to your PHP development workforce; it is your workforce. All of the things you need when writing PHP are instantly available, with the ability to execute and test your code with a single click.
I was thinking it would help me automate updates and some other functions on web pages.

Unfortunately, it evidently expects me to know enough to select an appropriate PHP function, and to do that, I still need to know basically what I am doing. I think this thing mainly helps keep the syntax correct.

Have any of you tried it? Is it useful? Worth $25?

[donmcc]

It might be worth the $25 in terms of getting over the learning curve. You still need a book for building the code. Testing code alone is probably worth it. Otherwise you have to keep browsing to localhost and the relevant files.

[ktinkel]

It might be worth the $25 in terms of getting over the learning curve. You still need a book for building the code. Testing code alone is probably worth it. Otherwise you have to keep browsing to localhost and the relevant files.I guess. There is something about PHP that my mind stubbornly resists. My bookmark in the Ullman book is stuck on about page 25, still in the intro.

Unfortunately, I think I need it, so keep looking for the magic.

[donmcc]

The best way to learn php is just to do it. I know that "real" programmers write all their code out in advance, and plan the whole thing from start to end before touching the computer. I don't.

With php, my first goal was to be able to connect to the database without getting a "die" message. Then all I wanted to do is to be able to run a query without a die. Then I tried to make it put the query results on the screen. Only after that did I start to put HTML in to make the stuff appear in tables or divs.

My method is small tasks, small victories, and continual progress. I also started with a small database ... something with under 100 records is enough.

Good luck with it.

As to being stuck on page 25 ... I seldom read that type of book. I just scan through and find the bits I need, and never read the entire book. It would be like trying to read the encyclopedia end to end (oh wait ... I have done that).