4 Tools To Make Magento Development Easier

I compiled a list of the most important Magento specific development tools in my toolbox. Additions are most welcome!

Greetings to the Magento Stammtisch Aachen guys, this is for you 😉

Magneto (sic!) Debug

http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/magneto-debug-8676.html

A free extension that integrates a developer toolbar in the Magento Layout where you find various information about the current page:

• Request route
• Loaded modules
• Configuration summary
• SQL profiler
• Used layout handles
• Rendered blocks/templates
• Instantiated block classes (rendered or not)
• One-click cache clearing

CommerceBug

http://store.pulsestorm.net/products/commerce-bug

Another integrated developer toolbar for $49.95 that offers mostly the same features but with two important additions:

• Complete merged layout XML with all handles
• Ability to log the information for all requests

EcomDev PHPUnit

http://www.ecomdev.org/shop/code-testing/php-unit-test-suite.html

PHPUnit extension for unit tests and integration tests. Includes database fixtures, configuration tests and more. See PDF documentation for details.

MageTool

https://github.com/alistairstead/MageTool

Command line tool for shop management and extension development. Some features:

• Automatically create extensions and class files
• Manage configuration
• Manage cache, compiler and indexer