CodeGear announced in a recent press release the availability of Delphi for PHP, a new Visual RAD IDE for the PHP developers. Delphi for PHP aims to take PHP development to the next-level by making it faster and easier to develop rich, database-driven Web applications.

Important features of Delphi for PHP include:

• RAD environment for PHP
• VCL for PHP – Open source PHP 5 visual component library with more than 50 extendable and reusable components with seamless AJAX integration
• Out-of-the-box database integration with InterBase, MySQL, Oracle®, Microsoft SQL Server, and other popular databases
• Integrated PHP debugger
• Deployment of PHP applications on Windows, Linux, Solaris and other platforms
• Internationalization support for applications
• Drag and drop database application development using the Data Explorer for InterBase and MySQL
• Code editor with Code Insight, Code Explorer, and Code Templates, making it easier and faster to write PHP code

According to the press release, Delphi for PHP is scheduled to be available in March for an introductory price of $249 and $99 for Academic usage.