DDEV

DDEV

DDEV is a local development environment and tooling for PHP developers to develop and test code on their own system. It packages docker containers for web and database services to closely resemble a live server.
DDEV image
php docker local-development

DDEV: Local Development Environment & Tooling for PHP

DDEV is a local development environment and tooling for PHP developers to develop and test code on their own system, packaging docker containers for web and database services to closely resemble a live server.

What is DDEV?

DDEV is an open source tool that provides a local development environment for PHP developers. It allows developers to replicate a live production environment on their own computer for building and testing applications.

DDEV makes use of Docker containers to spin up isolated development environments called projects. Each project can contain common components like a web server, database, and programming language. Some key features of DDEV include:

  • Supports popular stacks like Nginx, PHP, MySQL/MariaDB
  • Fast performance with containerization and caching
  • Custom configuration support with config files and variables
  • One command project setup and teardown
  • Integrated testing tools and automation
  • Portability across operating systems

With DDEV, PHP developers can code, run, debug, and fully test applications on their local machine before deploying. The isolated environments prevent conflicts between projects and closely match production. The automation, performance, and portability make it an appealing local development tool for developers.

DDEV Features

Features

  1. Local development environment for PHP
  2. Bundles Docker containers for web and database services
  3. Supports PHP, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, Solr, MailHog, Nginx, Apache
  4. Configurable via simple YAML files
  5. Built-in HTTPS support
  6. Share projects via ddev share
  7. Extendable with custom commands and hooks
  8. Works on Linux, macOS and Windows (WSL2)

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Easy to setup and use

Isolates projects and their dependencies

Enables testing in an environment similar to production

Allows collaboration by sharing local projects

Open source and free

Cons

Requires Docker to be installed

Can use significant disk space for Docker images

Not as feature rich as more complex local dev tools

Limited to PHP-based projects


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