ShishKabab PHP IDE

By Vincent den Boer

shishkabab.net

<email contact>

Contents

* What is it?

* How was it developed?

* Why was it developed?

* The future of ShishKabab PHP IDE: Where are we going?

* How to get it

* How to contact the author

* About the author


* What is it?

ShishKabab PHP IDE is a PHP Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Currently, it only runs on Linux, but there are plans to port it to Windows and Mac OS.

The IDE's main attraction is code completion. It is fast like the other IDEs, does not abandon you when you need it the most, and yet does not get in your way when you do not need it.

Another available feature is the Script Browser. It allows you to see what classes, functions and variables are declared in a file. It inspects those classes and can easily jump to the declaration you are searching for.

Search and replace in the whole project is, of course, a feature also available in this IDE. The search paths are customizable, so you will not get unwanted results that only take you precious time to analyze.

Since the whole project is based on KDE 4, everything from toolbars, shortcuts, and every color you see is customizable. So this IDE that you can spend most of your programming hours working with, can be as personalized as you want.

It also uses KDE KIO system to allow you to edit files accessible via SSH, FTP and other protocols.


* How was it developed?

The whole IDE is based on Qt 4 and KDE 4 technologies. The KTextEditor interfaces are used with a custom CodeCompletionModel interface. A custom PHP code parser was made using QT's excellent regular expression capabilities.

The script information supplied by the parser is stored in an application-wide repository that monitors every script file and updates its information accordingly.

Currently only code completion and the script browser use this information, but there are virtually unlimited ways to use this information.


* Why was it developed?

I developed this IDE because other PHP developers and me could not find a PHP IDE that was fully satisfactory. All IDE that I tried were either to heavy, buggy or simply too expensive.

So I developed this IDE in C++ to make it faster. Everybody here is using it now happily for their daily work.

This project was a great way to brush up my C++, communication and writing skills and who knows, maybe it will even pay for some of my upcoming study costs in an university.

It is also an attempt to get in touch with the Open Source community which brought, and still brings, us many top-notch products that we all use every day.


* The future of ShishKabab PHP IDE: Where are we going?

My plans for this IDE currently include fixing any bugs that pop up as my main priority.

I also want to write more documentation, so hidden features that will make your life a little bit easier will not remain out of sight much longer.

After that I am going to implement more features prioritized by the feedback that I get from the community. That is a very important point: the community.

I would really like to get feedback from the users of the IDE. What would you like to see in next versions? Which features would you consider to be a high priority?

Also contributions in the form artwork and code are very welcome. The application does not use any icons at the moment.

One area where I really could use some help is porting the IDE to Windows since I do not have a fully setup Windows development environment. I am working with a Debian Linux distribution. Setting a Windows development environment is not one of my favorite activities.

That said, when I get enough requests to port the IDE to Windows and that special Windows guy has not shown up, I will begin to port it myself.


* How to get it

You can get the IDE by following the instructions on this page:

shishkabab.net/skphpide_download.ht ...

Checking out the source from the trunk is currently the best way to get it because the latest bug fixes and new features are in there.


* How to contact the author

I am usually at the ##php, ##c++ and #python IRC channels under the nickname ShishKabab. If you do not find me there, you can send an e-mail to vincent at shishkabab.net .


* About the author

I was 16 years old when I wrote the first version of this IDE. The main languages I use are C++, PHP, and Web development languages such as XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Now I am 17 and preparing myself to study at a university. This project was intended to learn and gain experience, thus preparing for my upcoming study.

I have recently launched the Web site for this IDE, on which I plan to also host a number of Open Source projects to build up my resume.

shishkabab.net/

Feel free to also send your thoughts, opinions and suggestions about this PHP IDE by posting a comment to this article here.