JavaScript
With PhpStorm, you can develop modern web, mobile, and desktop applications with JavaScript and Node.js. PhpStorm supports JavaScript and TypeScript programming languages, React and Angular frameworks and provides tight integration with various tools for web development.
On this page you will find a short Getting Started Guide that will walk you step by step from creating a web application to debugging and testing it.
Creating a new application
Choose Create New Project on the Welcome screen. The Create New Project Dialog opens.
on the main menu or clickIn the left-hand pane, choose Empty Project.
In the right-hand pane, specify the path to the folder where the project-related files will be stored. Click Create.
Starting with an existing JavaScript application
If you are going to continue developing an existing JavaScript application, open it in PhpStorm, choose the JavaScript version to use, and configure the libraries in it. Optionally download the required npm dependencies.
To open the application sources that are already on your machine
Click Open on the Welcome screen or choose on the main menu. In the dialog that opens, select the folder where your sources are stored.
To check out the application sources from your version control
Click Check out from Version Control on the Welcome screen or choose on the main menu.
Select your version control system from the list.
In the VCS-specific dialog that opens, type your credentials and the repository to check out the application sources from.
Choosing the JavaScript language version
To get reliable and efficient coding assistance, you need to specify the language version that will be used in all JavaScript files of your application by default.
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), choose JavaScript under Languages and Frameworks. The JavaScript page opens.
- From the drop-down list, choose one of the supported JavaScript language versions:
ECMAScript 6: This version adds support for the features introduced in ECMAScript 2015-2017 as well as some current proposals to the standard.
React JSX: This version adds support for the JSX syntax on top of ECMAScript 6
Flow: This version adds support for the Flow syntax.
Using multiple JavaScript versions
If you are working on an application that uses both ECMAScript 5.1 and a newer version of ECMAScript, or JSX, or Flow, the easiest way is to choose the highest language version for the whole project from the drop-down list on the JavaScript page. For example, if you use ES5.1 and JSX, enable JSX (since it is a superset of ES5.1 and ES6).
To configure different JavaScript language versions for different folders
On the JavaScript page, click next to the JavaScript language version drop-down list. The JavaScript Language Versions dialog opens.
Click and in the dialog that opens select the folder where you need a custom language version. PhpStorm brings you back to the JavaScript Language Versions dialog where the selected folder is shown in the Path field.
From the Language drop-down list, choose the language version for the files in the selected folder. In all the other JavaScript files in the project PhpStorm will use the version chosen on the JavaScript page.
Downloading npm dependencies
Before you start, install Node.js. If your application uses some tools, libraries, or frameworks, download the required packages.
To install a package in an empty project
Open the embedded Terminal ( or Alt+F12) and type
npm install <package name>
at the command prompt.
If you already have a package.json file in your project
Right-click the
package.json
file in the editor or in the Project tool window and choose Run 'npm install' on the context menu.
Configuring code completion for project dependencies
To provide code completion for project dependencies, PhpStorm automatically creates a node_modules
library. In PhpStorm, a library is a file or a set of files whose functions and methods are added to PhpStorm's internal knowledge in addition to the functions and methods that PhpStorm retrieves from the project code that you edit. See Configuring JavaScript Libraries for details and examples.
Auto import in JavaScript
PhpStorm can generate import statements for modules, classes, components, and any other symbols that are exported. If you are using ES6 in your project, PhpStorm can add missing import statements on the fly, when you complete ES6 symbols. For earlier JavaScript versions or when auto import on completion is disabled, PhpStorm marks the symbol as unresolved and shows a tooltip: On pressing Alt+Enter, PhpStorm displays the suggested quick-fix: If there's more than one possible source of import, PhpStorm shows a list of suggestions:
To add ES6 import statements on code completion
In the Settings/Preferences dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S), click General under editor, and then click Auto Import. The Auto Import page opens.
In the TypeScript/JavaScript area, select the Add ES6 imports on code completion checkbox.
Running JavaScript in browser
In the editor, open the HTML file with the JavaScript reference. This HTML file does not necessarily have to be the one that implements the starting page of the application.
- Do one of the following:
Choose
on the main menu or press Alt+F2. Then select the desired browser from the pop-up menu.Hover your mouse pointer over the code to show the browser icons bar: Click the icon that indicates the desired browser.
Debugging JavaScript
PhpStorm provides a built-in debugger for your client-side JavaScript code that works with Chrome.
You can also debug your client-side JavaScript in Firefox, version 36 and higher. However it is strongly recommended that you use Chrome or any other browser of the Chrome family. With PhpStorm, you can debug JavaScript applications running on the built-in server, on an external server, or on a remote server. For details, see Debugging JavaScript in Chrome and Debugging JavaScript in Firefox.