I want to develop a professional website using PHP and MySQL. Can i do it in Windows 7 (64-bit) or i need to install linux based OS. How to go for it.
You can run an AMP Stack (Apache, mySQL, PHP) on Windows no problem. I have been doing this for ten years now. Running on Windows 7 64-bit is also no problem.
There are several pre-packaged installers available. My favourite is XAMPP. They usually allow full customization where needed.
You can also download the stand-alone binaries of each product and install them manually. Makes for very, very good learning but is more work.
Yes, you can.
Though a platform is the least thing you will need...
As mentioned it is possible to develop Php and MySQL sites quite happily on Windows using something like XAMPP, even if they are later to be deployed on a Linux web server and I know a lot of people do this and it works great for them.
However I have found in the past you can run into problems later on this way. For example, a lot of people who have only used Windows in the past can get caught out by case-sensitivity in Linux. So your site runs great locally but then you start getting lots of 404 errors when you go live because for example, mypage.php is not the same as myPage.php any more.
At the other end of the development spectrum, you can achieve some really powerful functionality when you start to work the server a bit more - things like video encoding or audio conversion are possible using PHP (with a bit of help from some other apps) on both Windows and Linux but the ways that you would do it are different therefore your development environment becomes much less useful and again you run the risk of putting something live that doesn't work, even tho it runs fine when you test it locally.
Personally, I think it is always best to develop on as close an environment to the intended production server as you can to avoid any nasty surprises when you go live.
Develop on the same platform you are going to be deploying to (if possible). It'll make it extremely easy to deploy with less room for possible error.
Installing the 64-bit versions Apache/PHP/MySQL on Windows 7 is a bit of a pain, but you can easily install the 32-bit versions using XAMPP (as mentioned by Pekka) from apachefriends.org
For Windows you can use a light package, which content php, apache, mysql, pear. link text
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I'm getting started with a side project that will be developed using PHP and I'm looking for guidance on getting my Windows machine up and running and ready for development (as quickly as possible). Being that PHP development is more geared towards Linux users/developers (which I am not), I'm trying to figure out how to get all the pieces in place to get a 'WAMP' stack operational locally on my Windows machine.
Any good tutorials/quick start guides out there and if not, does someone have all the steps that they could provide me with here?
Install Apache Friends XAMPP.
PHP on Windows:
Install Xampp because it is really easy to install.
Use version control system like for example git to store your code.
Use an IDE like netbeans/eclipse/aptana for faster PHP development(autocomplete, code formatting, PHPdoc, etc).
Learn a PHP framework like for example codeigniter to ease your development. The video/screencast to create a blog in 20 minutes will learn you how to use it.
Practice TDD to test your code, which will result in more stable code-base.
Good luck coding!
Learning Linux/Ubuntu:
As a sidenote when installing ubuntu which is really a straight forward process you will see that using linux isn't that difficult as you think(It used to be difficult compiling source manually etc). when you install a dual boot and play with every day. I guarantee you that in no time you will really love linux like I do. I really think linux is the best option for coding. Also redis main creator shares this opinion with me.
Probably the quickest way to get a PHP server up and running on Windows is WAMP 2.0. Wamp Site. I use it on my Vista machine. Download it, run the 'exe', and start coding. It is only 16 MB but it is powerful and very simple to use.
Why not go the official Microsoft route:
Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0
installs both PHP (to run in IIS) and MySQL.
My two cents. I use Netbeans for my windows PHP development. Here is a quick start guide
As previously mentioned, XAMPP is probably the easiest and fastest way to get started with PHP. Search installing xampp on youtube, they got a good video on how to install it to your system.
There is a PHP application right now on a Linux box running under Apache with MySQL. Since we are a windows shop, management wants to get rid of the Linux box and move everything over to windows. Is there a performance difference between the two platforms? Or, is there any significant difference at all, in terms of performance or management?
Microsoft had a team help out optimising PHP for Windows, which work is part of PHP 5.3. Some figures I've seen places the performance close to PHP + Apache on a unix system. Before 5.3 (Which means currently, since 5.3 isn't out yet), performance is bad on Windows. I think there are some patches and tricks you can pull to improve it, but it's going to cost you a bit of performance. That may or may not be a problem; People have a tendency to overestimate performance.
Note that there are other reasons to use unix than just performance. Code may not be portable and even though the core php runs fairly ok, you can well get into trouble with php-extensions and third party libraries. No matter how you look at it, Windows is a second-rate system for running php on.
If your application isn't huge or get hit a couple thousand times per second, there's no difference between the two.
LAMP == WAMP in php small projects. Just install something like XAMPP if you want your environment to be as close as possible to your existing one but in Windows.
Good luck with your project!
You should consider the MS WebPI (download at www.microsoft.com/web ) which would install the entire stack for you to run PHP in IIS7 environment.
the performance is comparable for most apps.
I've just done this for the same reason. Mgt wanted to get rid of the Linux box. I was able to completely move my php application and MySQL database. It took longer for me to configure PHP for IIS than it did for me to move the existing content over.
I have found though that the IIS server is a fair bit slower when it comes to loading pages and images. Where in Linux it appeared instantaneous, in IIS it takes a half second for the page to load and another second for images.
I'm trying to determine how likely it is that my next job will involve the use of a Mac/PC if I am hired as a PHP programmer. With Rails, most shops seem to develop on the Mac. I'm wondering whether the same is true of PHP.
Most PHP development houses will have you debug and run your code in a testing environment that mimics the production environment. This way you are able to use the OS/editor/IDE of your choice and it should all come out okay. One of the advantages of PHP over other web service languages (ASP.net, et al.) is that it is multi-platform at its heart. I would be more worried about things like what version control system are they using and what is their production environment like than what desktop OS you will have to use, as these are the variables that get locked in stone while your desktop machine isn't.
The simple answer would be more people use PC's so more developers develop PHP on a PC. I use Linux.
They all can do it very well, I would just make sure you are comfortable with all 3 operating systems. My office does almost ASP.net development exclusively, and the guy next to me develops on a Mac!
Basically, as a professional, you need to be able to hop on anything and be able to develop on it.
When I did PHP, I developed on XP, deployed on Linux, FWIW.
Irrelevant. I use Linux and Windows, but it doesn't really matter, because on both I use the same editors (ActiveState Komodo and Zend Studio), both of which are also available for Mac.
There is no limiting factor in regards to the language itself. We're a pure PHP development environment and all of our developers use Macs. But it wouldn't be a problem if any of them used Windows boxes or Linux boxes to develop on. The only problem would be if the company had development tools that had to be run on a specific platform. The short answer is: it depends on where you get a job.
I have seen a few companies say in their job advertisement that they use Macs to develop on. In reality though I think that was just put there for the "cool" factor.I am willing to bet that they would allow you to use whatever you wanted to develop PHP on as long as your PHP + Apahce/IIS/whatever configuration is not a million miles away from what is used on the production servers.
I don't think it should matter all that much when it comes to web script programming like PHP or JavaScript, unless you are partial to a specific IDE or something. I do all of my web programming code in a notepad editor, but it does not seem like it would be all that hard to code just as well on a Mac or a Linux box or even a Blackberry.
I do all my development at work on Windows XP.
For PHP development at work I use Nusphere PHP Ed on Windows. It has a lot of useful features like debugging and code intelligence, but I've found it to be a little unstable for software that costs money. Still, if you don't mind it freezing up every so often and want to pay for it, it's a great PHP IDE for Windows.
My personal favourite is Eclipse with the PHP IDE Project plug-in (there's a few options), if you use that it doesn't matter which OS you use (it works on PC, Mac and Linux).
I would say PHP is more on windows as it has been around much longer and likely spread to more development environments.
I do most of my heavy development on Linux. If you are running Linux servers, like we do, and your site uses specific services, it's best to keep your development platform as close to your target production server.
I use a Mac to do personal development, but I'm not as comfortable with that as I am on Linux.
I bet quite a few people use Windows for web development as most people use windows full stop, and I see no reason why not, if that's what they prefer. I don't.
At the moment i am doing all my PHP development on a macbook using a Centos Virtual box. Its great as you do not have to install anything on your actual mac apart from Virtual box as its Free. It takes around a 1 or 2 hours to set up the guest correctly and you can be on your way. From there i am using Eclipse PHP for the actual code development.
I like to work on Windows 7 and the IDE is Sublime Text which is also convenient for Mac users as well. OS is really doesn't matter for PHP development as its multi-OS dependent.
My PHP Environment Setup:
Windows 7
Sublime Text
Xampp Server
GIT
I want to test some PHP on my local machine running Windows XP Professional. I'm familiar with coding PHP for upload, but not with running a web server.
What is the easiest way to set up a test environment? Step-by-step instructions would be great if you can give them.
(I see WAMP recommended in this thread - thoughts?)
Update - a year later
A little self-promotion: after using XAMPP for a long time, I began to want things it didn't include. (Support for PDO was a big one - every time I tried to enable pdo and mysqli simultaneously, something crashed.) I eventually worked through the process of installing Apache, PHP, MySQL, and PHPMyAdmin individually, and documented the process with screen shots on my blog.
Some of the configuration that I was able to do this way could have been done in XAMPP, but it was only because I had to set things up myself that I discovered new things (like being able to serve files out of c:\whatever instead of c:\program files\apache\htdocs).
On the whole, I'm happier with having installed these items separately. But XAMPP was a good (and easy) package to start with, and served me well while I used it.
(source: apachefriends.org)
Xampp is the simplest. You can setup everything in a Step by Step and if you require further configuration (Virtual Server, extension) you have the normal php.ini and other file in the directory that you can edit yourself.
Here is the Step By Step installation for Windows.
XAMPP from ApacheFriends is pretty simple to set up and use.
note the site appears to be down as at 15:02 UTC on 3rd Dec 2008
note again and it is back!
Instead of WAMP, I recommend XAMPP, for Cross Platform (X), Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl, all in one package. It is very simple to setup and use, and like WAMP puts an icon in the system tray to manage it all.
You can get it here: www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html. This site also includes comprehensive instructions to get up and running quickly.
There is even a portable version available at http://portableapps.com/apps/development/xampp.
In few months I start a project in PHP and I am hesitating to do like usual : develop on my Windows Vista 64bits machine. Since I know few things on Linux, I think it can be a good way to learn by working on a Linux distribution.
Do you think it's a good idea or not? I would run a VirtualBox with Ubuntu (on my Vista64bits). I was thinking to install XAMPP to be able to develop in PHP.
If you think it's a good idea, feel free to suggest me some tutorial about what I should know with Virtualizing an OS, or Linux/dev.
Update
I have build many website in PHP with Windows, the question is more about if it's a good way to start learning Linux by developing on it via a Virtual machine? I have 4 gigs rams, will it be smooth if I install Eclipse in the Virtual Machine? etc.
You should really develop on the same platform where you are going to deploy. I'm not saying it is bad to do differently, but it can save you some pain in the long run. OTOH, you might learn faster about platform differences that way. So, the main question is: do you want to have a production system running ASAP without much headache? Or, you want to spend some time and make some effort to learn how to develop cross-platform stuff?
And yes, there are differences. For example, case sensitive and case in-sensitive filenames. Then, some PHP functions use native C functions that have different implementation. For example, printf() does not produce the same amount of whitespace for some of the types. Resolution of time measurement (milliseconds vs microseconds) can be different, etc. Then, you have different ways filesystem permissions are handled. These are just some recent problems I've found that I can remember off the top of my head.
PHP should be the same on any platform - so where you develop shouldn't matter.
However, in my experience and observation,more sites running PHP are running on Linux than Windows.
Getting Apache and PHP setup on something like Ubuntu or Fedora is a cinch, and testing everything is pretty simple, too.
Also, when you go live with your site, what platform will it be running on? I prefer to do development on the platform it will be running on whenever possible.
Personally, I don't think that for local production you should be using a VM. Would you be running your IDE inside the VM too?
If you are aware enough of the pitfalls of moving between Windows and Linux environments (such as case sensitivity and permissions), you should have no problem developing on Windows and deploying on Linux.
Working on a Linux distribution is defnitely the easiest way to learn it. And setting up some servers and doing some dev work is an excellent start.
Virtualising Linux is also really easy. I've done it quite a few times and it's really obious. Also, going this way will ease you into using Linux, much better than just jumping in and finding out your wireless card is unsupported like I did :)
As for PHP development on Linux... I've done some PHP coding on Windows and on Linux and I can tell you there's very little difference between the two. I use Eclipse on both platforms and Apache &MySQL / XAMPP. The only major difference I've seen is that Linux is much more finicky about permissions and case.
PHP is not the same on all platforms, and until very recently the windows versions had problems which were not found in the Linux versions. Lots of useful features are *nix specific.
I would echo #Milan's sentiments about developing in the deployment environment. You learn a lot more about the deployment environment by doing so too.
On the VM issue, if you want all your Windows tools and your windows machine, setup a linux server in your VM (can have a GUI if you want, but you're going to mainly use it as a server). Set it up so that windows can view the apache install running in your VM and you use samba shares to access the vm's files like a drive in windows. That way, you develop in windows but are testing deploy / setup on a running linux server. While two devs at my shop run Ubuntu, a third needs to use Photoshop and various other bits of windows software all the time, so she uses this method of running a server in a VM but developing from windows.
Oh, and if you're running on Linux, don't use XAMPP! A few simple commands will have you up and running and you'll get a much better understanding of your deploy. XAMPP is fine, but it's for OS's that don't have Linux's package management.
while XAMPP works great, running Apache and PHP on Linux is a given; while on Windows it's something extra you have to do... and support. Also, most parts of the stack are far more optimised and mature for a POSIX environment. The database engine(s) performance is particularly sensitive to the available primitives.
Most OSS runs on windows, but it's a round peg whammed on a square hole.
On principle, I would advise against "learning by doing" in a real project - unless it it really small, or you have doen very similar projects before, so that the learning curve on project related issues would not be steep. In that case you may have ressources free for learning about the developing environment.
Generally I like the Linux environment better than Windows. Mainly because all the CLI tools you would need are provided and Bash beats cmd.ext any time. But with Cygwin I find even Windows a comfortable development environment.
Regarding PHP development I can't really see how it would be much different. Maybe there is some benefit in being forced to make the code more portable (things like line endings, forward slashes in filenames and such) if you use booth systems.
As a desktop or workstation there isn't much difference between the two. I find that the biggest differences lies in how you administer them, but hopefullt you have some other people doing that for you.
In my opinion you needn't to develop in a linux distribution.
Web Development can be done from any OS. I don't know, why you are programming for the web... as a professional? for your personal homepage?
I think, it's enough to get some free webspace running a PHP Server and to upload your files there... it doesn't take you much time and there are less things to manage.
a german student ;)
Use the OS your deployment server will be running, and it is highly probable to be linux. I have recently seen a deployment gone ultra bad cuz it was developed using wampserver and deployed on CentOS. With major differences in apache and PHP config. So know your deployment server and match it as closely as possible.
Try creating a development environment using VmWare Player. I have several Linux environments that I run on my Vista laptop. You could also just dual boot. I use Ubuntu, it is easy.
The side effect of developing inside a VM: more overhead and eventually the needs of additional tools to make the development more comfortable.
Often people need special tools for their development like Photoshop or some vector design tools not available on Linux. If the working copy of the project is inside the VM, it makes sense to have easy access to it. So you will setup SAMBA (which makes often problems with the login from XP) or setup SSL(SFTP)/FTP.
Also you must learn how to use networking with the VM (NAT, bridging, port forwarding).
On the other side, developing on another platform as the target can give some headache. I found myself often confused with .htaccess files for password protection, because oft the different path on Windows/Linux. If you forget to change this entries later on the production server, you have a problem...
A better solution: use the best of both worlds.
A VM eventually running later headless (no gui, more like a "remote server") with Ubuntu/Debian/FreeBSD) and only running the needed servers (Apache, MySQL, FTP, SSH...).
Eclipse or the other development tools on Windows/Mac.
5 years later: My opinion is to use the Linux solution. There are many advantages for using PHP in Linux. The primary reason is the level of help available from the community. PHP seems to be optimized for Linux environments as well.
There is also safety in numbers as an overwhelming number of sites are hosted and run with LAMP solutions. There are a wide range of frameworks and CMS' that run best on Linux with Apache2.
Make your life easier and start learning PHP straight away.