So I got this new job where I actually get to do what I want which is programming for a living instead of making annoying booklets and brochures (re. my last post), anyhow I've now had the opportunity to work with other real coders and get their opinions on things. One subject that came up right away was what do you use to make your code? Which brings us to this review:
Aptana Studio 2.02 with the PHP pluggins
Summary: IT BLOWS!
Installation: Aptana is easy to install, all you have to do is go to the eclipse website and download it, then download the Aptana plugin for eclipse or you could go to the aptana site and download it, but then after you download it you have to install the plug-ins. I think there's just a couple, maybe 40? oh yea and did I mention you have to guess the exact right combination of plug-ins to install simultaneously or it will lock up and do absolutely nothing? oh and when you finally do get a plug-in installed you have to restart the program twice in order to install the next one, easy as pie
Set up: Set up is simple for Aptana, all you have to do is figure out that you need to start a project before you start and then select that project from your existing code and then wait... and wait... and wait some more while it builds your project (and mind you i'm on a 2.53 Ghz core I5 machine).
Usage: If you've managed to successfully install the software one of the things you will notice right off the bat is that the program takes about a minute to load up every time you start it. Why is this? well as far as I can tell its because every time you start it insists on opening the "My Studio" page which is really only ever needed for installing the plug-ins, but i suppose this is the price you have to pay for a fully featured program which keeps track of all of your files for you, oh wait... whats that?... oh yea it doesn't do that i forgot. Yep in all of its glory Aptana can't even keep track of the fact that you changed a file externally, so every time you open it up you must refresh the entire project otherwise you will not be able to see the code on the pages that have changed.
Extra Features: Aptana does have some nice features, like the debugger, of course if you're like me you have absofreakinglutely no use for such a thing, HELLO! this is PHP moron! we don't have to compile our stinking programs in order to run them so adding an extra "echo" in to see whats going on is extremely simple! and if you can't follow where your code is going and you need to track it then your an idiot, learn how to analyse things better! There are some other extra features as well, like the one where you get to see all of the lines of code as one long run-on instead of having them wrap LIKE ANY STANDARD FUCKING TEXT EDITOR would do! of course there is a plug-in for word wrap but i haven't been able to install it, its right next to the pluging for allowing capital letters and the one that lets you use your space bar.
Alternatives: Just about anything would be better than this pile of crap for editing your code, my current choice however is Notepad++. Notepad++ is kinda like notepad except it allows for multiple tabbed pages and it highlights the code like aptana. another thing it does is OPENS INSTANTANEOUSLY YOU FUCKING COMMUNIST ASSHOLES TRY THAT OUT FOR A FUCKING CHANGE, YEA THATS RIGHT A PROGRAM THAT ACTUALLY FUCKING WORKS!!!!!
