Setting up PhpStorm

PhpStorm is a commercial IDE, it is arguably the best IDE for PHP developers with features such as code completion, code inspection, phpunit support, Behat support, database editor, debugger, etc.

Installation

OS X

Do not install Java manually, download a PhpStorm package with bundled java instead.

General settings

•  Disable missing @throws tag warning in "Preferences / Project Settings / Inspections / PHP / PHPDoc"
• Strip trailing whitespace from "Modified Lines" in "Preferences / IDE Settings / Editor"
• Show line numbers in "Preferences / IDE Settings / Editor / Appearance"

Bug tracker integration

• Add tracker linking in "Preferences / Version control / Issue Navigation"
• Set Issue ID to "MDL-\d+" and Issue link to "https://tracker.moodle.org/browse/$0"

Code formatting

• Setup coding style to use all rules from Coding style in "Preferences / Project Settings / Code Style / PHP" (or simply import from https://github.com/enovation/moodle-utils/blob/master/phpstorm-config/Moodle.xml) - this will allow you to use automatic code formatting and it does nice code formatting on copy/paste.
• Set line separator to "Unix and OS X (\n)" in "Preferences / Project Settings / Code Style / General".
• Set right margin to 132 or 180 in "Preferences / Project Settings / Code Style / General".

Tips & Tricks

• Use /** @var admin_root $ADMIN */ to autofill $ADMIN->...
• Remove SQL syntax inspection errors for Moodle tables surrounded by curly brackets (like: SELECT * FROM {user}) by adding \{(\w+)\} to Tools > Databases > user parameters

(more info: https://blog.jetbrains.com/phpstorm/2014/11/database-language-injection-configuration/ , and a "feature request" to improve it: https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/WI-4123 )

Moodle code checker

Follow the instructions in the README

PHPUnit integration

1. Install PHPUnit via Composer
2. Tell PHPStorm where is composer - go to "Preferences / PHP / Composer", fill in "Path to PHP executable", "Path to composer.phar", "Path to composer.json" and make sure the option "Add packages as libraries" is enabled.
3. Go to "Run / Edit configurations"
4. Add PHPUnit configuration by clicking on "+"
5. Click "Use alternative configuration file" and select your phpunit.xml file
6. Go to "Run / Run ..." and select your new PHPUnit configuration to run

Database editor

1. Click on the "Database" tab to see the database window
2. Click "+" in the top left and add "Database source" for your database
3. Note: click on the link to download the necessary drivers directly from IDE

Useful plugins

1. Php Inspections ​(EA Extended) - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7622-php-inspections-ea-extended-/
2. SonarLint - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7973-sonarlint/
3. Diff / Patch File Support - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/11957-diff--patch-file-support/
4. Handlebars/Mustache - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6884-handlebars-mustache/
5. Markdown Navigator - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7896-markdown-navigator/
6. PHP composer.json support - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7631-php-composer-json-support/
7. PHP Advanced AutoComplete - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7276-php-advanced-autocomplete/