Installing Netbeans PHP IDE on Ubuntu
Nothing amazing going on, just a few tips that might save you some time:
- You need java runtime installed and working, prolly apt-cache search to make
sure you’re putting in the most recent version (6 as of this writing)sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-font
- The netbeans in the repo is for the Java IDE, so don’t bother with apt-get
- Download the install file here: http://www.netbeans.org/downloads/index.html
- Be sure to pick the PHP bundle
- If clicking on the netbeans-x.x-ml-php-linux.sh file gives you an error or tries to open in gedit or something, right-click > properties > permissions and check ‘allow executing file as a program’
- Select Run (not ‘Run in Terminal’), running in terminal will throw some GTK errors
Next you might want to head over to the Netbeans website and watch the intro vid and orient yourself to the plethora of PHP-centric features.
As fair newb to programming in PHP I can’t say I’m qualified to suggest an IDE. So why Netbeans? It’s free. It porvides syntactic and semantic code highlighting for PHP and debugging through Xdebug. Folks in my Seattle PHP meetup group who know a lot more about programming than I do seem to really like it, every time I go to install Eclipse I am daunted by the website, instructions and innumerable options. Finally, it was recommended in the recent Smashing Magazine article The Big PHP IDE Test: Why Use One And Which To Choose (2009.02.11) so I stopped resisting.
Do you like it, recommend others over it?
Jason said,
February 27, 2009 @ 6:32 pm
As far as free IDE’s go, netbeans is the best. It has the most features out of any other free IDE i’ve used. Komodo Edit is also very good, and I usually use Komodo because I am used to it and it’s a little more stable. Lately though I’ve been switching back and forth between the two. I prefer Komodo’s code completion and pop up documentation but it lacks some features I like, like function browsing and quick formatting.
Zeeshan Khan said,
February 18, 2010 @ 8:44 am
You can also check out some other good Free PHP IDEs on the following website:
http://www.webtechquery.com/index.php/2010/01/free-php-ides-for-ubuntu-linux/
dawemmy said,
November 15, 2010 @ 7:34 am
Brilliant! Worked like a charm
you inspired me also to find a php meetup!
jBeck said,
July 31, 2011 @ 2:07 pm
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-font
should be
sudo apt-get install sun-java6-jre sun-java6-plugin sun-java6-fonts
The “s” is missing at the end of the command. At least that is what I had to do.
mahalie said,
August 1, 2011 @ 12:01 pm
jBeck, tx for the comment!
Can’t believe folks are still finding this post. I don’t have an Ubuntu box anymore so if someone else seconds your correction I’ll update the post. Also, Netbeans is still loved/used amongst my peers, although I’m using Coda on a Mac mostly because my needs are pretty light. Cheers!
Natrajan said,
September 1, 2011 @ 8:09 pm
Thanks. U genius