Why I Switched from Eclipse PDT to NetBeans IDE
I had started a post highlighting the recent Eclipse PDT 2.0 release but now find myself dropping the post and the Eclipse IDE altogether. Instead, I'll share why I've switched from Eclipse PDT to NetBeans.
Unobtrusive and accessible form input labeling with jQuery
It's common practice to skip the use of elements in simple forms. The most common example of this are site search forms. The following example uses a JavaScript event handler attribute to clear the input's value which also serves as the input's label.
Add jQuery code assist to Eclipse WTP on Mac OS X
I'd recently run across a nifty patch for Eclipse WTP which adds jQuery code assist to WTP's stock JavaScript features. The installation instructions looked simple enough, back up the original WTP JavaScript jar file, download the jQueryWTP patch, run it, and voila, jQuery development gets a little faster in Eclipse. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.
During my first attempts, the jQueryWTP patch installer wouldn't run on Mac OS X 10.4.11 at work. The patch wouldn't run on Leopard at home either. Neither the jQueryWTP project nor its SourceForge download page provide Java or WTP version requirements. All screenshots I've seen show installation on Windows. After a lot of flailing, I was eventually able to get the patch installed. Here is an archive of my trials and tribulations.
Keep your Java environment up-to-date on Mac OS X 10.4 with SoyLatte
I recently needed Java 6 to install an Eclipse patch. As you're probably aware, although Apple updated OS X 10.5 Leopard to Java 6 they probably never will provide updates beyond Java 5 for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. The good news is that if you're running an Intel-based Mac, you can keep your Java environment up-to-date with SoyLatte, which is part of the OpenJDK BSD-Port project.
Speed up PHP development in Eclipse PDT with Templates and Snippets
Busy schedules, long to do lists, and deadlines make it tough for developers to get familiar with some of the advanced features their tools provide. This is a shame, because some features, like Eclipse Templates, can really reduce coding time and errors.
You already know that Eclipse PDT provides autocompletion and hints for PHP's built in functions. In addition, commenting your code with PHPDoc adds autocompletion and hinting for your application's classes, methods, and variables. If you haven't already discovered, Eclipse PDT also provides autocompletion of PHP's control structures, class definitions, and methods through code templates.