Jcx.Software has announced the availability of VS.Php version 2.0, a PHP editor for Visual Studio 2005.

The new version of VS.Php allows developers to build, edit and deploy open-source PHP applications using the familiar interface of the popular Visual Studio IDE. New features in version 2.0 include Jcx.Software's integrated Smarty/PHP editor with Intellisense and other rich editing features provided in Visual Studio, company officials said.

PHP is a server-side HTML embedded scripting language. It provides Web developers with a full suite of tools for building dynamic Web sites. Through its CLR (Common Language Runtime), Visual Studio 2005 supports more than 40 different languages. Jcx.Software, as a Microsoft Visual Studio Industry Partner, offers developers enhanced support for PHP development.

Another key feature of the new release is the integration of the help system and the PHP documentation. VS.Php includes integrated documentation for PHP, PEAR (PHP Extension and Application Repository) and Smarty. PEAR is a framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components.

Juan Rivera, founder of Jcx.Software, said in a statement: "Not only [do] we provide support for the new Visual Studio platform, but also we add many unique features you don't find anywhere else. Our product is focused to jack-of-all-trades developers that do .Net development but at the same time need to work on PHP. VS.Php is the ideal solution because they don't want to work outside Visual Studio."

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VS.Php provides rich project management features similar to ASP.Net projects, Rivera said. In addition, because many developers deploy their PHP applications in non-Windows servers, VS.Php also provides deployment support for remote servers where users can deploy their PHP applications with a click of a button, he said.

This article was originally published on eWEEK.com.