I am just starting PHP. Is DreamWeaver MX a good tool?

[sctwest]

My company wants me to re-write all old MS Access applications using PHP and MYSQL. I thought I would use Dreamweaver MX because I was told it was faster then using notepad. :?

Will I be able to create complete web applications using Dreamweaver MX?

[pauper_i]

There are many pro\'s and con\'s for Dreamweaver. Its a complete package and, if you are prepared to use it correctly, it will do a lot for you.

On the other hand, there\'s a lot to be said for hand coding too! You will probably find that most of the people on this forum use different editors, and most use more than one.

Lets look at your problem and attack it from there:

Your data is currently in Access and you want to port it over to MySQL. You don\'t mention what the current front end is: ASP or VBA Access - it does make a difference!

If your current front end is in ASP, there are tools available that will convert your ASP into (sort of) PHP. There will still be some tweaking to do, but it will save you a lot of time. If on the other hand the code is in VBA Access, then I\'d suggest you sit down with a stack of blank paper and start writing your requirements since you are going to have to recode it from the ground up.

In the former case (ASP), you could probably use notepad, but I\'d lean more towards a good editor such as HTMLKit (www.chami.com).

In the latter case, you should probably go with dreamweaver since it will help to maintain continuity between the pages.

 

The final choice is yours to make - there are many posts in this forum comparing the worths of different editors, take a browse through and you will find 400 different opinions!

 

Good luck!

 

D

[BinaryStar]

that was very well put...just adding my 2 cents...

 

dreamweaver can be a great tool, i use dreamweaver and zend studios, but try to do the actual scripting yourself, it will make you life easier...i use dreamweaver for ease of layout with graphics and my overall layouts of websites, it makes my life easier there, but they lack in language support and write bulky code for you.

 

I will press F10 and type all my PHP by hand, becuase i need it a certain way and dreamweaver can\'t do that for me. I use for the color coding though....

 

If i am just writing pure php with no intergration of HTML i will use zend studios, i just love that program...

 

but in short, download a trial copy from http://www.macromedia.com and see for yourself...

 

Once other great thing a lot of people don\'t see about dreamweaver is you can bascially re-write a bunch of the actual program...the whole program depends on XML and javascript files to present itself to the user...

 

If you don\'t like an option or need something, you can go hack it yourself, they give you access to all the files....very nice of them to do so...

 

BS

[mikal]

Is it possible to take an online appliction and writtin in pure php...and basically cut out the code and stick it in a DWmx template like macromedia record store free application. (if your aware of it).

 

I have some programmers coding an application for me, but the interface is killing me. I know DWmx but not PHP and MySql very well. Im asking them to redesing it or program it to work inside specific DW templates, this way i can keep the usablity ....usable.

 

Any advice our knowledge would be helpful.

 

Thanks.

[Seraph]

if your a hardcoder like me I think you would prefer zend studio

www.zend.com

[djcubez]

I\'m old school. I use notepad for all my projects...I only open dreamweaver if I get a parse error and it says go to line \'bla\' and in notepad i have to count the lines.

[Seraph]

er notepad guru lol

ctrl + g = go to line # lol

[PichelM]

I personally prefer hand coding, too. But it really depends what environments etc you are used to.

 

if you don\'t like using things like notepad then I\'d recommend Zend or DW to do the coding, as they take over a lot of things for you (formatting, colouring etc.).

 

It\'s down to you really.

P

[erb0]

I have DW but I set it to hand-coding interface because I find it easier to hand-code rather than revise and properly indent, etc. the crappy code that DW writes.

[eloka]

I think i prefer handcoding.I\'m new to DW,Php and MySql but so far i think hand coding has worked better 4 me.

[dim]

Dreamweaver is an excellent tool for a lot of things.. Especially for CSS..

but when it comes to Database backend design, there\'s one thing i\'ve learned, DW does not like people manipulating its code.

 

You either have to do everything on your site the DW way, or hand code everything yourself.. because as soon as you try to modify DW\'s code, it\'ll just blow up on you. I\'m not saying don\'t use DW, i\'m just saying.. Be careful. And one tip, if a page does blow up on your after you modify it yourself.. your best bet is to scrap that particular page, and start over..

 

As for PHP Editors.. the ones I like most, with syntax highlighting and a functions list, and all kinds of other features are:

 

http://www.ankord.com/phpxedit.html <-- very nice!

http://www.code-genie.com/cgenie.html

 

Good luck

[Wilhelm]

I use dreameaver mostly because it handles indentation well, if notepad did taht, I\'d stick to notepad.

[cozmic]

If you're just starting out with PHP/MySQL then Dreamweaver is a good place to start. You will need to download a few extra server behaviours to make it more 'PHP friendly'.

 

Then, once you get a handle on things you will find that you will need to hand-code quite a bit to make things perfect.

 

Dreamweaver is not the ultimate PHP development tool but I don't think any ONE tool is. It got me started and I still use it for 70-80% of the coding I need. But my requirements are pretty basic.

[shocker-z]

I hand code all my PHP and MySQL in dreamweaver and use dreamweaver interface to deasign the actual look of my site. but i learnt hand coded html and javascript before i ever used and editor. its better learning to handcode first because then you can debug your programs better

[ErikS]

My answer sounds about the same as most everyone here but I thought I would chime in.

 

I usually start with DW to make the HTML shell so it lays out nicely (which it is quick at) and sometimes some of the basic PHP code than handcode the rest. I've been using Dreamweaver mostly as of late (I used GoLive for years) because it does have some decent PHP support and doesnt mess with my hand coding if I use it to edit the pages (well, usually it doesnt). It's my hopes that Macromedia will improve the capabilites of Dreamweaver in the future, but of course only time will tell

[webstalker]

i donno about all the other editors out there... i use DW and it works fine for me.. but i do leave it on "code" interface... but when im really into a large project..

 

i would use Komodo LIVE error checking (if you have php installed) :-)

 

-web

[Seraph]

I agree that DW is great for Design. like HTML, CSS and javascript. But for PHP it is absolutley horrible using the auto indent and other. I suggest again to use Zend development enviroment. It has many useful features such as auto debug error underlining and more.

[morpheus.100]

For php dreamweaxer really sucks.

 

One: It has poor support for php though people are knocking out some reasonable extetions to help you.

 

Two: It hates anything other than code written to its own protocols.

 

Three: It screws up with any folders you move into your site folder outside the program, and goes into a timeless checking mode if using version 6.0, yet lacks any option to import a folder, onlysingle files.

 

Also when working with anything imported Dreamweaverfails to recognise anyof the associated connection scripts. Create a new connection with connection name==connection name of your imported script and copy and spurious code from existing into new connection script. This way dreamweaver gets to keep its own little conection script yet you the user made Dreamweaver "AAAVVV IT" !!

 

 

[Thilom]

Hi,

 

If you want to learn to code. use handcoding. There is no substitute.

 

If you want to stuff around, use dreamweaver but you will never learn to code and you will just end up asking stupid questions on this forum like, 'Why doesn't this code work?'.

 

Regards,

 

[mstone07]

I like DW too however for beginners it can be very problematic simply because it is so complex. It tries to do too much for you.

 

My biggest complaint with DW MX though is just how long it takes to launch.

 

The code rewiting just needs to be turned off.

 

Overall it is good for average users. Advanced programmers don't want all the fluff and beginners just get themselves into trouble with it.

 

"What do you mean you can't see the pictures, it works on my computer?"

 

<img src=file://...> duh???

 

Learn to code by hand first, then it just doesn't matter what you use.

 

m

[dereko]

I learned PHP and HTML(orXHTML) by hand coding first and I think you will never go far in the industry unless you do this.

 

Now that I have learned these sufficently I now use tools based on how much time they will save me. In general any web app or dynamic website is going to have a HTML/CSS user interface. For me dreamweaver is ideal for this side of things, hand coding everthing in HTML is not cost effective anymore for anyone.

 

Dreamweaver's build in PHP/MySQL functions are poor at best and I think it is best to stay away from them. I usually just write it all by hand in dreamweaver, as it still has nice syntax highlighting, shortcuts for previewing pages, site management as well as intergrated FTP which is a must as most sites exist on external servers.

 

For all general editing purposes I use EditPlus (IMHO the only text editor you would ever need) which also has syntax hightlighting, and integrated FTP support.

 

I've been trying to find good extensions to make life easier for writing PHP code and VDaemon appears to have some good stuff although have not fully tested them.

 

I have to admit I have never worked in the Zend Studio enviroment and possible I should try it out. I use Windows XP/Apache2/PHP/Mysql for my development and syncronize with the live site usually on Linux/Apache/PHP/mysql.

 

Would people say it is worth my while investing in Zend Studio?

 

[mumanc]

I suggest u should try to get used to using Dreamweaver, cause it's gonna be (and it has been) a very popular and may be no.1 HTML graphical editor, and it will increase its features to be able to support most of the popular scripting language, as it has been with ASP, and next with PHP (in MX 2004).

 

Of sourse, its ability to preview the page as how it will be displayed in the browser is the main reason you should use it Meanwhile, you can make spaces in the page for your PHP script that can be typed in its code view. So, i figure out using just notepad for the time being is very unefficient, because there are a bunch of tools out there (Dreamweaver is one of them) that can reduce much of your time.