Web server info - GETTING READY TO WORK WITH PHP Individual programs
GETTING READY TO WORK WITH PHP Individual programs or an all-in-one package? If you re using Mac OS X, the decision is simple: Apache is already installed, so you just need to switch it on, and both PHP and MySQL are available as Mac packages. Individual installation is the most sensible way to go. Jump ahead to the section titled Setting up on Mac OS X later in this chapter. Windows users need to do a bit more work to get everything up and running, so there s a strong temptation to opt for an all-in-one package. Two, in particular, have a good repu tation as being stable and easy to install: XAMMP (www.apachefriends.org/en) and WAMP (www.en.wampserver.com). However, before opting for the easy route, you should consider the following notice on the official PHP site at www.php.net/manual/en/install. windows.php: I have no experience of working with XAMMP or WAMP, so I will offer no further advice on either of them. The instructions in the rest of this chapter concentrate on installing the official versions of all the software. Setting up on Windows These instructions have been tested on Windows 2000, XP Home, and XP Pro. Make sure that you re logged on as an Administrator. New versions of software are being released all the time. Check this book s page at www.friendsofed.com for updates. Changes relevant to Windows Vista will also be posted there. Getting Windows to display filename extensions By default, most Windows computers hide the three- or four-letter filename extension, such as .doc or .html, so all you see in dialog boxes and Windows Explorer is thisfile instead of thisfile.doc or thisfile.html. The ability to see these filename extensions is essential for working with PHP. If you haven t already enabled the display of filename extensions, open Start . My Computer (it s a desktop icon on Windows 2000). Then from the menu at the top of the window, choose Tools . Folder Options . View. Uncheck the box marked Hide extensions for known file types. Click OK.
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