Getting NetBeans connected to the Zend Developer Cloud is actually pretty simple… if you have NetBeans 7.1 which is currently in RC. NetBeans 7.0 has a bug that won't allow you to connect to Git over HTTPS. NetBeans 7.1 fixes that issue. You will also need to make sure that you have the Git module installed.

His post includes the step by step process (including some screenshots to getting the automated deployment set up and working in this popular IDE. The key is setting up the SFTP connection to point to the right location on the cloud server (the path isn't very intuitive, he recommends finding it with another SFTP program for the initial setup).

For the past 18 months working with PHP, i've primarily used alternatives, not out of preference, but because netbeans xdebug integration consistently failed me. It would (might) work with a remote apache, but would not play with scripts executed remotely from the command line. I could be fairly sure my xdebug config was sound as I no problems with MacGDB and PHPStorm whatsoever.

With a little more investigation, he discovered that it was the OSX firewall causing issues. He found that, with a new incoming connection came a confirmation box to approve the connection. This, of course, wasn't passed along to Netbeans so he never saw it. In the end, he set up a reverse SSH tunnel to bypass the firewall completely (command included).

I'm currently working on some Symfony2 bundles and I have one Netbeans project for the main Symfony2 app and one project for the bundle. [...] The debugger starts for the "main" project, which is the Symfony2 app, but setting breakpoints with Netbeans (y'know, by clicking the line number) for the bundle doesn't really work, as those are in the other project and not in the debugged one, rendering the whole debugging useless.

The fix is pretty simple, if a bit manual - simply place xdebug_break calls in your code anywhere to tell the debugger to stop there. It's not as friendly and automatic as just clicking in the IDE, but it gets the job done. For more information on Xdebug, see their site.

I've spent this weekend hacking on some unit tests for ZendDojo and I ran into an issue where I need Xdebug to, well, debug. Note, that this is not for debugging a Zend Framework application, but for debugging Zend Framework itself. I am using Netbeans + Xdebug to debug regular code, but debugging unit tests was something completely new for me. Turns out, it's not entirely different from "regular" debugging.

Thanks to hints from this post and some trial and error on working with autoloading, he finally got things working in his Netbeans environment. The trick is setting up the "Index File" to the correct location.

I was happy Eclipse fanboy for quite a long time, and I can say that I still am. I like to try out new things, but this IDE was doing perfect job and I stick to it for PHP development. But few months ago I have tried NetBeans 7.0, and boy, after few hours it felt like home. At the end of the day, with all respect to Eclipse, I decided to switch. I will try to compare this two, but before we start I must say that they are both very good at what they do, and no matter which one you choose it will do great job for sure.

He includes descriptions and screenshots for quite a bit of the features, comparing the interfaces as well as the bundled functionality for the following:

• configuration options
• code completion abilities
• general application navigation
• code formatting abilities
• version control support
• debugging integration
• testing support (unit tests, etc.)
• plugins
• and perfomance

Every now and then you run into this weird situation in your code, where something that was supposed to zig is now zagging and it makes no sense whatsoever. For me this ends up happening in my unit tests since i'm not running everything in the browser everytime and since my tests usually run more scenarios then a regular browser run, that's where the weird stuff happens.

He shows you how to configure NetBeans with the path to your local PHP installation, configure the xdebug settings in your php.ini and how to coordinate the PHPUnit install to send its output to your NetBeans instance. Then it's as simple as clicking "Debug" on the project and running "phpunit-debug" from the command line.

The first, Using PHP with Oracle Database 11g, is an introduction to some of the basics of interacting with the database including using connection pooling and tips on query optimization.

The second tutorial, Developing a PHP Web Application with Oracle Database 11g, shows you how to build up a basic company portal with the help of the Zend Framework and the Netbeans IDE.

Since this is an old religion war and it can't be solved out of context, my points will be specifically related to these programs. In this comparison, I collected examples of where Vim and NetBeans differ in behavior and performance. The point of view is that of a PHP developer, since I experienced much worse results with Unix tools while programming in other languages such as Java.

He compares them on a few different levels including overall speed, autocompletion, portability, ease of use, codebase navigation and versatility. There's no "better than" judgment here, just a good look at what each tool has to offer. What it really boils down to, of course, is personal preference. These are just two of the many possibilities out there (like PHP Storm, Eclipse PDT or Zend Studio).

I already gave a brief review of NetBeans, but a new version 6.9 Beta came out after I tested it, so I decided to take it for a spin. Over the last two weeks I've been using NetBeans as my main IDE at work, continue reading to see the verdict. NetBeans 6.9 looks very promising. In it's current state I'm almost sure my quest is over already '" at least I will choose it over Eclipse PDT for now.

He talks about features including version control integration, full HTML/CSS support and XDebug integration. He also mentions the autocompletion the IDE does as you're working in your code and the features it has to make your life easier.

Over the last 8 years I've tried out a lot of different setups. I've always loved Emacs, and for many years my setup was very basic: Linux/FreeBSD desktop, Fluxbox, Xterm, Emacs and Firefox - simple and powerful, and I loved it but I want more. I want my environment to be a bit smarter and not just provide me with some (very, very nice) shortcuts for navigating my code.

He looks at a few other tools and how they compare to what he's used to - VIM, NetBeans, Eclipse PDT - and decides that there's not a clear winner between them and that really, it boils down to two things: what your preference is and what quirks you can deal with on a daily basis.