PHP

PHP support includes:

Possibility to create PHP files and classes from templates.
Full PHP 5.3, PHP 5.4, PHP 5.5, PHP 5.6, PHP 7, PHP 7.1, PHP 7.2, PHP 7.3, PHP 7.4, PHP 8.0, and PHP 8.1 syntax support.
Syntax and error highlighting.
Basic on-the-fly code completion.
Resolution of include statements and file references, including references to PHAR archives.
All the PHAR files from the current project and the specified include path are shown in the project tool window under the Project View/Libraries/PHAR node and available for browsing right there.
Class Completion
Intention actions and quick fixes
Surrounding with code constructs Ctrl+Alt+J and Ctrl+Alt+T.
Code inspections.
Jump to declaration Ctrl+B.
Refactoring:
- Rename Shift+F6.
- Move F6.
- Copy F5.

PHP development support is provided through the PHP plugin. The PHP plugin is not bundled with IntelliJ IDEA, but it can be installed on the Settings/Preferences | Plugins page, tab Marketplace, as described in Installing plugins from JetBrains repository.

This part describes some procedures that are specific for developing PHP applications and some preliminary steps that are required to configure PHP development environment.

Install the PHP plugin

This functionality relies on the PHP plugin that should be installed and enabled in your IDE.

The plugin is available only in IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate.

Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Plugins.
Switch to the Marketplace tab and use the search field to find the PHP plugin.
Click Install and restart the IDE if prompted.

To develop an application using PHP

Follow these general steps:

Configure the PHP development environment.
Configure PHP interpreters as described in Configuring Local PHP Interpreters and Configuring Remote PHP Interpreters.
Start creating a project from scratch. On the first page of the New Project wizard, choose PHP in the left-hand pane, then choose PHP Empty Project in the right-hand pane.
To run and debug your application on a local Web server, create the project root below the Web server document root. Thus your application sources will be "visible" for the local Web server.
Create and configure the required data sources (see Manage data sources).
Populate the application using provided coding assistance.
Deploy the application.
With IntelliJ IDEA, you can flexibly configure deployment of PHP applications. For example, you can set up your PHP project on a local Web server from the very beginning, or develop and test an application locally and then upload it to a remote Web server, and so on.
Run the application. You can do it in several ways:
- From IntelliJ IDEA using a run configuration of the type PHP Web Page to view application output in a browser.
- From IntelliJ IDEA using a PHP Script run configuration to view the application output in the Run tool window.
- From IntelliJ IDEA, using a built-in Web server. This approach saves your time and effort because you do not need to deploy the application sources.

The following optional steps may be helpful:

Set up unit testing in your project.
Install and configure a debugging engine and specify the debugger options, see Configure a debugging engine and Debugger for details.
Debug the application.

Last modified: 29 November 2022