[UPHPU] Which application environment is proper for begining php?

[jim]

> In Anil's case, an IDE like Aptana or Zend would likely be beneficial
> because of the autocompletion, syntax verification and highlighting......


i pretty much completely disagree with this notion. [no offense, i get
the perspective].

i would argue that if someone *really* wants to learn a language, they
should do it with as little assistance [eg: auto-complete] as
possible. these features - which are pretty awesome, i agree - will
lend themselves to becoming a crutch to the novice.

i learned every language i know using a plain text editor [notepad,
nano, emacs, kate, etc] first and until i felt that i had a thorough
grasp of the language. not until then did i introduce the ide [which i
love] for the convenience of auto-complete.

i'd say the one exception to that might be a text editor with syntax
highlighting. i don't see that as being a crutch as it doesn't hold
your hand for anything. it just makes things easier to read.