Testing PHP on a Windows PC?

[IncaD]

Back in the day I had a program called PHP Triad that installed Apache, PHP and MySql for me.

I was just looking at http://www.apachefriends.org/en/index.html and they have something called XAMPP. Is this good or should I use something else?

[StuartD]

xampp is what I use... it works great and is perfect for testing.

[u-Bob]

Just download apache, php, mysql etc and install them... no need to use a xampp/wamp/whatever package.

[CurrentlySober]

xampp here too

[just a punk]

I'm happy with Zend.

[IncaD]

Just download apache, php, mysql etc and install them... no need to use a xampp/wamp/whatever package.

You don't need to be an expert to configure it?

[testpie]

You don't need to be an expert to configure it?

Nope. I configured it fairly quickly, and although I'd recommend an integrated package such as XAMPP if you are a noob, it's far more flexible, less bloated, and more configurable to your needs if you just get Apache, PHP and MySQL individually - plus you can use the versions of each that you want (e.g. you may prefer PHP4 over PHP5, and XAMPP may only be offering a version with PHP5).

Aside from that, I'd recommend lighttpd over Apache any day, just as long as you don't need to use Apache features such as .htaccess or .htpasswd files, as these are done differently in lighttpd.

[u-Bob]

it's far more flexible, less bloated, and more configurable to your needs if you just get Apache, PHP and MySQL individually - plus you can use the versions of each that you want (e.g. you may prefer PHP4 over PHP5, and XAMPP may only be offering a version with PHP5).

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