Simple text editors are fast and easy to use, but they don’t understand the code you’re writing. This talk will show you how Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) like NetBeans or Eclipse (both are Free Software and cross-platform), can handle the tedious parts of programming to let you focus on getting things done with your code. Stop having to memorize function arguments and type out PHPDoc by hand! If you haven’t tried working with an IDE, or even if you have and got scared, this talk will walk you through the why and the how of saving time and headaches by committing to one. I’ll also cover using PHPXref, a simple alternative to IDEs that offers a lot of the same utility without changing any of your code workflow.
This talk is targeted at people coding PHP. Though IDEs are also useful for HTML, CSS and Javascript authors, their value is relative to how serious your coding is. If you’re planning to attend consider installing NetBeans beforehand so you can follow along.
About Jeremy Clarke
Jeremy Clarke is a PHP, HTML, CSS and WordPress hacker from Montreal. He loves his job working on the nonprofit citizen media site Global Voices, where he manages dozens of WordPress sites, blogs, plugins, themes and a couple of bitchy Linux servers. He has a communications degree from Concordia University, but is mostly a self-taught web developer. Jeremy has been an organizer of WordCamp Montreal since it started in 2009, and has spoken at many other WordCamps as well.
