PHP Developers Tools (2024 version)

What are the essential services and software for a PHP developer?

I have been working as a backend developer since 2005, and after several setup changes and tests, based on my personal experience, the essential stack for a PHP developer is:

• a Mac computer (Macbook Air M1 with 16Gb RAM is perfect)
• a Google Workspace mailbox (and its services such as Meet, Docs, Drive, etc. — https://workspace.google.it)
• a Github account (https://github.com)
• a Jira account (Jira is free for up to 10 users — https://jira.atlassian.com)
• vscode (https://code.visualstudio.com) with essential extensions such as Github Copilot, PHP Intellisense, GitLens, Duplicate, Dev Container, …
• Docker Desktop (https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop)
• Insomnia Rest (https://insomnia.rest)
• Table Plus (https://tableplus.com)
• Oh My Zsh (https://ohmyz.sh)

Why this stack?

I think these services, hardware, and software can simplify your work life!

• Apple OS is a powerful OS, simple, stable, and powerful for dev needs
• Google Workspace is an incredible suite made for collaboration
• Jira helps manage daily tasks, sprints, and customer tickets
• vscode is a free IDE with several practical extensions so it’s a perfect editor for your code!
• Docker Desktop lets you run your project containers with few clicks
• Insomnia Rest is a light tool to test REST API endpoints
• Table Plus is a powerful database desktop manager
• Oh My Zsh is a free and complete Zsh configuration

There are also secondary tools such as ClockWork (https://github.com/itsgoingd/clockwork), Laravel Herd (https://herd.laravel.com), Tinkerwell (https://tinkerwell.app), and others that will help you to speed up your development process.