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PhpStorm plugins

Rana
10.12.2023
PhpStorm is a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) for PHP developers. Its feature-rich nature and robust capabilities make it a go-to choice for PHP projects. One of the most remarkable aspects of PhpStorm is its extensibility through plugins. Plugins enhance your development workflow by adding new features, integrations, and productivity tools. In this article, we’ll explore some must-have PhpStorm plugins that in our opinion will supercharge your PHP development experience.

1) .env files support

Managing configuration in your web development projects is a critical aspect of maintaining security and flexibility. PhpStorm’s built-in support for .env files, including syntax highlighting, code completion, and version control integration, simplifies the process. Additionally, third-party plugins like the .env File Plugin and Laravel .env Files Support take your configuration management to the next level. With these tools at your disposal, you can confidently handle environment-specific settings and keep your application’s secrets safe while developing in PhpStorm.

2) .ignore

Managing ignore files is a crucial aspect of software development, ensuring that unnecessary files and directories are excluded from version control or other tools. JetBrains’ “.ignore” PhpStorm plugin simplifies this process by offering an intuitive interface, template suggestions, custom rules, smart suggestions, and interactive previews. With this powerful plugin, you can maintain clean and organized projects without the hassle of manually crafting ignore files. Upgrade your PhpStorm workflow today with the “.ignore” plugin from JetBrains.

3) Alpine.js Support

PhpStorm offers comprehensive support for JavaScript frameworks like Alpine.js. The Alpine.js Support plugin adds some more features, like auto-completion for alpine directives such as x-data. This plugin also sets the language to JavaScript inside your directives, which gives you full syntax highlighting and code-completion. I like it for our Hyvä projects, because it makes it easier to see and write alpine components.

4) Bitbucket Pull Request

The Atlassian Bitbucket Pull Request plugin seamlessly integrates with your IDE, allowing efficient review and management of pull requests. Compatible with Bitbucket Cloud and Bitbucket Server, it offers in-IDE review, comment navigation, task creation, pull request actions, iterative reviews, and Git Log integration. Notably, it operates as a direct client for Bitbucket, ensuring data security by locally storing passwords and tokens within the IDE. I find the Bitbucket Pull Request plugin invaluable for code reviews, especially with complex code. Its unique feature of consolidating all comments in one place and facilitating easy navigation to relevant code sections makes it more convenient than the native Bitbucket interface.

5) deep-assoc-completion

The “deep-assoc-completion” IntelliJ IDEs plugin is a valuable addition to the toolbox of PHP developers who frequently work with associative arrays, especially those with complex and nested structures. By improving code-completion, reducing errors, and enhancing productivity, this plugin streamlines the development process and contributes to more efficient and error-free PHP coding.

6) Force Shortcuts

This feature forces users to employ keyboard shortcuts by blocking click actions and displaying the corresponding keyboard shortcut in a popup. If you find this level of enforcement too obstructive, consider exploring Key Promoter X, an alternative that offers a more customizable approach. The toggle functionality for this feature can be easily accessed from the ‘Tools’ dropdown in the menu bar.

7) Git Branch Cleaner

It is a simple plugin for deleting unneeded git branches. It will list all branches that do not have tracking remotes and allows you to delete them. The current branch will not be listed. Branches that are not merged into HEAD are not selected by default, but can be deleted as well. Just use the following action: VCS > Git > Delete Old Branches.

8) GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is available as a plugin for popular code editors like PhpStorm. It can be a valuable tool for both experienced developers looking to improve productivity and beginners learning how to code, as it can provide guidance and suggestions throughout the coding process. GitHub Copilot works on any language, including Java, PHP, Python, JavaScript, Ruby, Go, C#, or C++. Because it’s been trained on languages in public repositories, it can work in most popular languages, libraries and frameworks. It’s also integrated into your editor, and fast enough to use as you type.

The important use cases of GitHub Copilot are converting comments into code, creating unit tests and SQL queries. However, it’s important to use Copilot as an aid rather than relying solely on it, as it may not always produce perfect or secure code, and human oversight is essential in software development. It is an amazing AI tool which I use and recommend for daily coding.

9) GitToolBox

GitToolBox is an IntelliJ IDEs plugin that provides enhanced Git integration. This plugin extends the Git functionality within the IDE and offers several features to make working with Git repositories more convenient and efficient. The key features of the GitToolBox plugin include enhanced commit and push, branch management, git history, conflict resolution, pull requests and code reviews and integration with version control system operations.

10) GraphQL

GraphQL plugin integrates GraphQL-related functionality into various development tools and environments. This plugin can be used in different IDEs (Integrated Development Environments), text editors, or even standalone tools to assist developers in working with GraphQL APIs and schemas more efficiently. This plugin offers schema-aware completion, error highlighting, syntax highlighting, code formatting, folding, brace matching, and supports executing mutations with variables against configurable endpoints.

11) Key Promoter X

The Key Promoter X plugin helps you to learn essential shortcuts while you are working. When you use the mouse on a button inside the IDE, the plugin shows you the keyboard shortcut that you could have used instead. This provides an easy way to learn how to replace tedious mouse work with keyboard keys and helps to transition to a faster, mouse free development. The Key Promoter X tool window shows you a hit-list of the mouse actions you use the most and directly provides you with the shortcut you can use instead. For buttons that don’t have a shortcut, the plugin prompts you with the possibility to directly create one yourself. It is a “softer” alternative to the Force Shortcuts plugin.

12) Live Edit

Live Edit is a plugin in IDEs, such as PHPStorm, which provides real-time editing and previewing of web applications and websites. It is particularly useful for web development when working with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

13) Magento and Adobe Commerce PhpStorm by Atwix

The Atwix PhpStorm Plugin for Magento and Adobe Commerce is an indispensable tool for developers seeking to enhance efficiency and maintain coding standards when working with Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce. One notable functionality is the ability to seamlessly compare templates with their original counterparts, simplifying the identification of modifications. Additionally, the plugin goes beyond this feature, offering robust support and rapid implementation of new ideas. For instance, it streamlines code reviews, automates common development tasks, and facilitates a smoother Magento development experience. Its quick adaptation to industry changes and consistently high performance have made it a must-have companion for Magento developers, significantly improving coding workflows.

14) Magento PhpStorm

Magento PhpStorm is an essential plugin designed for Magento 2 developers. Created by JetBrains for PHP development within PhpStorm IDE. This tool significantly enhances the Magento 2 development workflow. It streamlines key processes such as installation, project configuration, coding, debugging, version control, testing, deployment, and performance profiling. For instance, it simplifies Magento installation and boosts coding efficiency, making it a must-have for any Magento developer looking to optimize their development process.

15) PHP Annotations

PHP annotations are a form of metadata that you can add to your PHP code using special syntax. Annotations are not built into the PHP language itself, but they are often used in combination with various libraries and frameworks to provide additional information about classes, methods, properties, or other elements of your code. They are typically used for documentation purposes or to configure various aspects of the code, such as routing in web applications or object-relational mapping (ORM) in database interactions.

16) PHP Inspections (EA Ultimate)

PHP Inspections (EA Ultimate) refers to a set of code analysis and inspection tools provided by JetBrains. These tools are designed to help PHP developers write better, more maintainable, and more efficient code by identifying potential issues, suggesting improvements, and enforcing coding standards.

17) PHPUnit Enhancement

PHPUnit Enhancement is a popular testing framework for PHP that is widely used for unit testing, integration testing, and other types of automated testing in PHP applications. Enhancements to PHPUnit typically refer to improvements or new features introduced in PHPUnit to make testing easier, more powerful, and more effective. It is also used for smart auto-completion, code navigation and refactoring features for mocked class methods of PhpUnit, Prophecy, and Mockery.

18) PostCSS

PostCSS is a popular and highly extensible tool for processing CSS in web development. It allows developers to transform and enhance CSS through the use of JavaScript-based plugins. PostCSS offers a flexible and powerful way to enhance your CSS development workflow by automating common tasks, improving browser compatibility, and providing tools to optimize and maintain your stylesheets efficiently.

This is our comprehensive list of PhpStorm plugins, curated to elevate your PHP development experience. We trust that incorporating these tools into your workflow will enhance productivity, streamline processes, and contribute to more efficient, error-free coding sessions. Happy coding!