A must-have for a programmer is to have a piece of software on his computer to directly test his webapplication. You make a file, and you can directly test it in your browser. The other way to test a file is to upload it to your webspace and then test it. It’s way easier to do this on your own computer (and you don’t have the restrictions your webhosts charges you). I’m going to explain how to get this piece of software and how to install it.
The piece of software we’re going to install is XAMPP (This stands for X Apache MySQL PHP Pearl. The X stands for ‘many operating systems’. I’ve never used Pearl, so don’t ask me about it). This is a package which contains Apache, a program which serves the webpages for you and interprets PHP files as PHP files. Visitors can’t see the source code of your PHP-application, so it’s pretty safe. It also contains MySQL, an essential program for programmers who want an interactive website. It stores all your data (like login data), so you can access it later on. It also contains an e-mail package (I’m going to talk about this later, I haven’t figured out how this program works yet) and a FTP-package (which we aren’t going to use).
Step 1: download & install XAMPP
Go to http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html, and select XAMPP for Windows (or XAMPP for another OS if you don’t have Windows, but since I have Windows, I’ll pick this one). Under ‘Download’, pick XAMPP. Now pick the EXE- or ZIP-file.
Step 2: start XAMPP
Starting XAMPP is pretty easy. After you’ve installed XAMPP, go to Start Menu and start ‘XAMPP Control Panel’ from the folder ‘XAMPP for Windows’. Now you see a window with four start buttons. Push the start buttons at ‘Apache’ and ‘MySql’. If it’s OK, you should see two green boxes with ‘running’ in it next to the buttons. You could also check the ‘Svc’ checkboxes next to ‘Apache’ and ‘MySql’. This will install ‘Apache’ and ‘MySQL’ as services, so it starts with your operating system.
Step 3: trying XAMPP
Start your favourite internet browser. In the address bar, type ‘localhost’. This will bring you to the page of your local webserver (Apache in this case). Now you are on the standard XAMPP web page. Play around with it for a bit, it gives you an idea with what you can make with PHP and MySQL.
Step 4: install a nice text editor
To make and edit your PHP files, you will need some kind of text editor. You could use Windows Notepad, but it’s way too simple in my opionion. I always use Notepad++. It has the possibility to install plugins (like an explorer plugin). You can download the program here.
Well, this was the first part of the tutorial, and my very first tutorial ever written. If things aren’t clear, please make a comment.
The piece of software we’re going to install is XAMPP (This stands for X Apache MySQL PHP Pearl. The X stands for ‘many operating systems’. I’ve never used Pearl, so don’t ask me about it). This is a package which contains Apache, a program which serves the webpages for you and interprets PHP files as PHP files. Visitors can’t see the source code of your PHP-application, so it’s pretty safe. It also contains MySQL, an essential program for programmers who want an interactive website. It stores all your data (like login data), so you can access it later on. It also contains an e-mail package (I’m going to talk about this later, I haven’t figured out how this program works yet) and a FTP-package (which we aren’t going to use).
Step 1: download & install XAMPP
Go to http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html, and select XAMPP for Windows (or XAMPP for another OS if you don’t have Windows, but since I have Windows, I’ll pick this one). Under ‘Download’, pick XAMPP. Now pick the EXE- or ZIP-file.
Step 2: start XAMPP
Starting XAMPP is pretty easy. After you’ve installed XAMPP, go to Start Menu and start ‘XAMPP Control Panel’ from the folder ‘XAMPP for Windows’. Now you see a window with four start buttons. Push the start buttons at ‘Apache’ and ‘MySql’. If it’s OK, you should see two green boxes with ‘running’ in it next to the buttons. You could also check the ‘Svc’ checkboxes next to ‘Apache’ and ‘MySql’. This will install ‘Apache’ and ‘MySQL’ as services, so it starts with your operating system.
Step 3: trying XAMPP
Start your favourite internet browser. In the address bar, type ‘localhost’. This will bring you to the page of your local webserver (Apache in this case). Now you are on the standard XAMPP web page. Play around with it for a bit, it gives you an idea with what you can make with PHP and MySQL.
Step 4: install a nice text editor
To make and edit your PHP files, you will need some kind of text editor. You could use Windows Notepad, but it’s way too simple in my opionion. I always use Notepad++. It has the possibility to install plugins (like an explorer plugin). You can download the program here.
Well, this was the first part of the tutorial, and my very first tutorial ever written. If things aren’t clear, please make a comment.
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