If you are a PHP developer or graphic web designer you must be aware and know about the basic tools one requires by which to perform certain web related tasks. However, most experienced web developers and designers constantly look for the new tools which they can use to make their workflow and web related tasks easier, faster, and better.
In this article we have collected a few of the best PHP Tools and Applications to assist you within your work related tasks. We hope you will find them helpful towards your PHP and development related tasks.
If you like the article you might be interested in our other article about Best PHP Frameworks for Developers.
1. phpFastCache
phpFastCache is an open source PHP caching library that comes as asingle-file and can be integrated so quickly. It has support for multiple caching methods (apc, memcache, memcached, wincache, files, pdo and mpdo), the period of caching can be defined and has a very simplified API.
2. ICEcoder : PHP Powered & Open Source Web IDE
ICEcoder is an open source and web-based IDE that is built with PHP and works fast. It works by simply dropping its app folder to anywhere we prefer and any files there (and inside subfolders) are ready to be edited.
3. Whoops : Library for PHP Error Reporting
Whoops is a PHP library for handling errors and debugging them much easily. The library provides stack-based error handling with a good-looking error interface. It has a simple API for dealing with exceptions, trace frames + their data and can integrate with any framework (ready-to-use integrations exist for end and Silex).
4. PHP Error
PHP Error is an open source PHP library for converting the standard PHP error messages -that are usually faced during the development process- into better ones. It integrates tightly into any PHP environment (works on all cases, only in development environment, only in some projects, etc.) and displays the errors with syntax highlighting.
5. phpFreeChat
phpFreeChat is a free and open source PHP chat application that doesn’t require any database to run but rather uses the filesystem for it. It can be used at the same time by any number of users, has a responsive layout that works in mobile too and has a modular authentication system which can be integrated into any app.
6. PHP Mobile Detect
PHP Mobile Detect is a lightweight PHP class for detecting mobile devices, including tablets and smartphones. It detects a mobile environment using the User-Agent string along with specific HTTP headers.
7. Faker
Faker generates fake data for you using PHP. It makes it easy to populate a database, create good-looking XML docs, anonymize data from a production service, or stress test an app. You can download it from GitHub or install using the Composer.
8. Unirest : HTTP Libraries in Multiple Languages
Unirest is a set of lightweight, simplified HTTP libraries in Java, PHP, Ruby, Python, and Objective-C. Each one is fully documented and handles a variety of functions.
