Setting up PhpStorm for Magento 2

Setting up PhpStorm for Magento 2 Magento 2 combines a lot of approaches and built-in tools designed to facilitate all development processes, and most significantly, enhance our source code quality. If used correctly, it raises our product’s quality significantly.

One of the most important tools for quality developments in Magento is PhpStorm, also known as “Intelligent coding assistance” and a “PHP IDE that actually “gets” your code”.

And that’s not just a slogan from an ad banner, that’s what PhpStorm actually is for developers. Listed below are some key tips & tricks for configuring your PhpStorm for the easiest and most enjoyable developments in Magento 2.

Use Static Code Analysis Magento 2 already includes a ready-made set of standards and rules for PHP Mess Detector (phpmd) and Code Sniffer (phpcs).

Use these tools to validate code against Magento 2 standards without even running the code itself.

Results you get by correctly using static code analysis include code validation on-the-fly and high validation speed.

How to configure your Code Sniffer in Magento 2 correctly?

Code Sniffer validates the code against many different standards of formatting, for availability and accuracy of comments arrangement and other similar administrative functions.

You can find the file with the rules set in: dev/tests/static/testsuite/Magento/Test/Php/_files/phpcs/ruleset.xml To include the rules set into Code Sniffer in Magento 2, just project follow these simple instructions:      

Go to PhpStorm / “Preferences” From the sub-menu “Editor” in the left menu choose “Inspections” Find in the list PHP / “PHP Code Sniffer validation” Turn “Validation” on Choose “Coding Standard” / “Custom” and click “...“ Now choose the directory “dev/tests/static/testsuite/Magento/Test/Php/_files/phpcs/”

How to use PHP Mess Detector to detect possible errors and complications?

PHP Mess Detector detects possible errors and complications, but PHPMD also executes the static code analysis. Also it rather targets detecting possible errors and code fragments which are too complicated for interpretation (classes, methods).

If your code passes all validations and tests (especially on compliance with the rules CyclomaticComplexity, CouplingBetweenObjects, NPathComplexity), then it is easy to read and to test. This way code also contains less of potential errors.

Configuration process of PHPMD in PhpStorm is similar to the Code Sniffer setting up procedure, except for the rules set file: dev/tests/static/testsuite/Magento/Test/Php/_files/phpmd/ruleset.xml How to use XML Schema Validation to avoid errors in XML files?

Every XML file in Magento 2 (layouts, etc/*) must comply with XSD schemas.

If any errors occured while XML files were in editing process, PhpStorm will show them.

It’s a highly recommended to form a habit of performing searches for errors in XML files.

To use this feature, you should just execute the following command in ssh terminal: bin/magento dev:urn-catalog:generate .idea/misc.xml How to use Excluded Directories to boost performance in Magento 2?

PhpStorm regularly indexes all project files and their changes during the process of development. This action is important for autocomplete but also for building relations between classes.

But every project includes lots of files, which are not necessary to index. Furthermore, the exclusion of those files allows to enhance PhpStorm performance in everyday activities.

We recommend you exclude the following directories: /bin/ /dev/ /pub/ /setup/ /var/cache/ /var/log/ /var/page_cache /var/view_processed So, this is it. Now your basic configuration of PhpStorm is ready. We hope our experience, tips and tricks on this process helped you to pass it easy and enjoy your further developments. If you’d like to read more, feel free to visit this blog.