Programmers use the PHP programming language to quickly and easily deploy Web applications, particularly those dealing with database interactions such as blogs and social networking sites. Typically, PHP programs can become quite large, so using a development environment that allows the user to manage large projects while supporting PHP code formatting is useful. Fortunately, programmers on Mac OS operating systems can use the free Xcode development program to maintain PHP projects.
Step 1
Download Xcode. Xcode is typically free to for programmers who have registered as part of the Apple developers program. However, users can now download Xcode from the Apple App store. Users can either go directly to the App store from ther Mac and search for "Xcode," or they can follow the link at developer.apple.com/xcode/ to the download site.
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Step 2
Download the Objective Development Xcode PHP plug in from obdev.at/products/xcode-odphptools/index.html. This plug in will allow users to search and manage user-created php functions in a project. Once the plug in downloads, create the following directory using the following command:
mkdir ~/Library/Application Support/Developer/Shared/Xcode/Plug-ins
Place the plug in into this directory, and restart Xcode if it is currently running.
Step 3
Write PHP code in Xcode. Create a file with the ".php" extension, and Xcode will highlight PHP syntax in its internal text editor. Furthermore, with the Objective Development plug in, the programmer can find already-defined PHP functions using the "Lookup PHP Function" functionality added to Xcode through the plug in.
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