Web Design & Development
[ Web Design & Development Topics ]
Below is a PHP Bundle which you may or may not elect to use. It is free and includes a MySQL database
Many of the activities we will do require the use of a web server running PHP and MySQL
This means that you will need a server running which can handle both PHP and MySQL. The most official place to obtain software for this if you don't already have access to PHP/MySQL is at http://www.php.net/downloads.php as they were the creators of PHP. However, there are also locations that make the install easy for you and are sometimes coined PHP all-in-one installers. PHP.net prefers that you do not use these, but then again they are easier and thus far have caused me no problems.
XAMPP Bundle
A PHP 5.04 bundle containing MySQL, PHP, and Perl can be obtained from http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html and will run on Windows boxes.
The supplements for this course for PHP/MySQL will be written based on the use of XAMPP although the code will be transferrable to any PHP/MySQL setup.
With XAMPP you will end up with a folder on your C: drive called c:\apachefriends\xampp with a file called xampp_start.exe. This is the file we want to execute.
Connecting to Localhost
You will know you have been successful when you go to your Web browser and type http://localhost/ and have something come up that says it is either PHP or XAMPP:
Troubleshooting Your Connection:
Alternative - Older Version
An OLDER version of PHP (4.23) could alternatively be used, as it was the version for this course prior to the above, so I know all assignments work in it:
After downloading and installing the Resource Bundle you will have to start the web sever before you can use it. To do so, choose the appropriate option from the phpdev choices in your list of Program Files. If you are running Windows 98 or ME choose phpdev98_ME otherwise choose phpdev2k_XP_NT. After making your selection the webserver will launch and you will soon see the default web page.
You are now ready to start testing your server-side coding. If I were to create a page called test1.php I would then save it in the directory:
c:\phpdev\www
To see the page in action I would use my web browser to view:
http://localhost/test1.php
Download Windows Resource Bundle here or get it from http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/phpdev5/phpdev423.exe (use older version only if you cannot get newer version to work or have some other extenuating reason for wanting it -- such as use at work)