CodeGear, the developer tools subsidiary of Borland Software, has released second version of its tool set for PHP developers (Delphi for PHP 2.0). Announced Delphi for PHP 2.0 is an IDE (integrated development environment) for rapidly building interactive Web applications using visual drag-and-drop design capabilities. This new version comes with a number of enhancements geared to make PHP developers more productive. But off course this new release is also a move to keep on fighting the growing competition with Zend, PHP’s lead commercial sponsor, and the maker of Zend Studio IDE.

Delphi for PHP 2.0 features several enhancements, the key enhancements are following:

1. HTML templates with embedded dynamic PHP
2. Ddatabase support for MySQL, CodeGear InterBase, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, IBM Informix and DB2, and Sybase’s SQL Anywhere
3. The ability to build rich data-driven Web applications without requiring database connectivity coding
4. New expanded and faster VCL (Visual Component Library) for PHP with support for popular PHP packages and libraries including the Zend Framework from Zend Technologies
5. Productivity and performance enhancements including new error insight and source code formatting
6. The whole new PHP debugging features and integrated PHP performance profiling and tuning.

Version 2.0 of CodeGear’s Delphi for PHP follows the launch of Zend Studio for Eclipse and Zend Platform 3.6 in January—which signalling the growing competition on PHP developer tools arena, as enterprise adoption for PHP continues to grow.

Some experts view this release as Borland’s smart move, which represents a positive development for PHP. PHP Delphi for PHP 2.0 actually integrates the Zend Framework into the IDE. Zend Framework is an enterprise-class deployment framework for PHP that has the backing of Microsoft, Google and IBM, among other big-name IT vendors.

Delphi for PHP 2.0 is available for an introductory price of $249 through June. Afterward, it costs $299. Upgrades from version 1.0 cost $179. Indeed this is the first tool to deliver a Visual Basic-style designer for PHP, where you can drag-and-drop components on a design canvas, and as well less expensive than its rival Zend studio. But question remain can it fight back the dominant and popular Zend Studio?

Disclaimer: Personally I use and endorse Zend technology for my clients and company’s PHP needs.