An IDE, or Integrated Development Environment, is a programming tool that integrates several specialized tools into a cohesive environment. These specialized tools may include:
1.a text editor
2.a code autocomplete function
3.a build procedure that includes compiler, linker, and whatnot
4.a debugger
5.a file or project manager
6.a performance profiler
7.a deployment tool
and so on.
IDEs can be used as text editors, and text editors can be used as IDEs.
A text editor is just for writing/modifying text/code.
With an IDE, you should do a lot more within that single program; running, debugging, version control, etc.
Below are some integrated features available in IDE which is not available in simple editor.
1.For Deployment and version controlling you can find SVN and CVS support in IDE,
2.FTP and SFTP support,
3.Project import wizard from local or FTP,
4.code folding,
5.Support for freamwork like Symphony or Zend,
6.Templeting support like smarty,
7.Support for Webservice library lie AMAZON, Facebook [but only
available in Netbeans, i didn't check in Eclipse or Zend ]
8.PHP Debugger like Xdebug,Zend Debugger support and many more...
