CakePHP support in NeptunIDE – part I
CakePHP is an awesome PHP framework – it helps you build better projects quicker than ever before. It makes development a piece of sweet cake, and NeptunIDE adds more icing for that pie.
CakePHP Project Wizard
NeptunIDE helps you with your CakePHP development from the very beginnings. CakePHP project wizards sets up everything you need to work: databases, tests server, version control and many more in just a few clicks. What’s more, by selecting one checkbox you can tell NeptunIDE to bake all your models, controllers and views.
Within no more than thirty seconds you are ready to start developing, with no need to download the latest version of CakePHP, setting up database and testing environment or manually executing CakePHP shells. But it’s just creating a project, real magic begins when you start developing. Read on to see all cool CakePHP features in NeptunIDE!
In the following video we’re showing how to create a new CakePHP project in less than 2 minutes.
CakePHP Autocomplete
Lack of good code autocompletion in other IDEs for CakePHP projects is the biggest pain. Of course, there are some workarounds that allow it, but they require you to write additional code, which is totaly against the concept of what a good IDE should be.
NeptunIDE scans all your project files, being aware of models and controllers, to provide excellent autocompletion. Just type $this-> in any controller and you will get a list of all models and components available in that controller. Of course, you can also easily access model associations the same way.
CakePHP autocompletion list showing associated models and components in a controller
Integrated Bake GUI
We love the concept of bake and creation of working CRUD application based on supplied database, but getting through all the questions in bake shell is a bit boring, especially with complex db structure. This is why we decided to include dedicated GUI for Cake’s bake shell, with more automation for code generation.
Additionally to initial bake at a project creation, you can generate models, controllers and views with only a few clicks, without switching between IDE, shell or database manager windows.
Generating models, views and controllers using GUI in NeptunIDE
Easy running and debugging CakePHP projects
NeptunIDE allows you to quickly run action you’re currently working on – with no need to click through your project or manually type URL. Just hit F5 while editing view or controller and NeptunIDE will run the desired action. Of course, you can run project home page using Ctrl+F5 instead.
Get rid of ridiculous pr() and switching to debug mode.
If you’d like to debug your project instead of only running it, just set breakpoint, hit F6, and take advantage of a built-in (and working out of-the-box with totally no configuration) PHP debugger. You’ll never again have to use pr() to find out what is in your variables!
Fast switching between models, views & controllers
A feature mostly desired by our team member, Bernard, yet not working properly (or even not existing) in other IDEs – special key bindings for switching between model, contoller or view of currently editing code.
But wait, there’s more!
Integrated library manager, database editor, query tool and many more. Just another time ;)
Related posts:
[...] The idea behind NeptunIDE is not only to support CakePHP as much as possible, including dedicated autocompletion, graphical frontend for bake and easy creation of new CakePHP projects, but also to integrate popular development software like Xdebug, Unit testing, continuous integration tools into one application. I’d like to include external libraries manager with automatic dependencies and updates too. The aim of my IDE is to make development easier, faster and more comfortable than ever before. As NeptunIDE is a cloud based application, it will be possible to develop using a tablet or Chromebook. More info about features dedicated to CakePHP can be found on my latest blog post [...]
Sounds like a great program, but I can see one huge disadvantage….it’s cloud based, so ‘no internet connection’ = ‘no work’. If you have no option of installing this on your own computer, and you lose power, you still have your laptop to work on, but no internet connection. I have at times lost my internet connection for days, when a forest fire burned down cable poles, or when it takes the company days to come and fix a cable problem. Not everyone can afford a G3 connection, and have to rely on cable/dsl for their connection. Data packages for tablets or smart phones cost an arm and a leg in this country (Canada)…..
Most of NeptunIDEs features are based on specially prepared cloud infrastructure, but, as for now, NeptunIDE supports offline file storage on users side, so if you’ll loose internet connection, your work is safe and you can still edit your files. You won’t be able to use all features, though. We have in mind support for offline work, but that is something we don’t want to share right now :)
I like the idea of a dedicated editor for cake.
I especially like the whole deployment scenario, I think aptana did this. But I like control.. The whole cloud thing bothers me.. I guess young folks just getting into coding, it will be normal for them to code online..
Is there any planning for making stand alone version that works locally on the PC?
About the autocomplete: Does it able to complete $compnents array with a list of available components in components folder?
Local version – not now.
About the $components array – yes – but wait for next post about CakePHP support :)
Nice idea, it’s about time that CakePHP is better supported in IDE’s. But as long as there is no offline version, this is not for me. I often work on projects while travelling and there’s not always an internet connection available. So I guess I need to look somewhere else…
there will be an offline mode so don’t worry about your connection going down
I agree with the other commenters on this post, if there is no offline support I do not see anyone in our office using it.
The idea of having an IDE in the cloud really doesn’t make much sense, what is the advantage to it anyway? ;/
There will be an offline mode. Cloud solutions do make much sense due to convenience, time efficiency, instant readiness to work from any PC or other device you use and being immune to hardware and software failures or data loss, to name a few.