PHP 4 or 5? Apache 1.3 or 2?

tomrock

I'm a photographer by trade with quite a computer background. I'm currently using a little PHP on my website but I want to learn more.

On an extra machine at home I've installed Apache 1.3 and PHP 4 and they work fine.

But I'm wondering if I should be using PHP 5?

And on a similar note, should I use Apache 2 rather than 1.3?

Both will be on a local Windows box for testing and learning.

I've searched these forums and haven't seen any discussion of PHP 4 vs. 5.

Where should I start?

Thanks for your help.

planetsim

Well it doesnt really matter what version of Apache however i use Apache 2.x but use Apache 1.3x on Windows.

As for PHP 4 or PHP 5 its a matter on whether your host has PHP 5 yet if so id get if not I probably wouldnt worry about it when learning but once you feel you have learnt quite a bit then PHP5 wouldnt hurt just make sure you dont use PHP 5 only functions for PHP 4.

Roger_Ramjet

The best reason I can think of for learning PHP5 right now is to learn to use objects. It can take a while to get your head around and using a spare machine at home to play with them on would be a good way to go about it. Very powerfull tool when you have.

tomrock

Thanks for the replies. Is there something somewhere that shows the difference between PHP 4 and 5? Currently my host uses 4 but I'm sure they'll update to 5 at some point. I just want to make sure I get a good start and but the right books, install the right versions, etc.

Thanks again for the help.

matto

because you mentioned apache and php5 ... at the university I was told recently that you can't run php5 with apache 2 because of multithreading incompatibilities.

maybe there's someone out there who can confirm this?

tomrock

I stumbled across this disto http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html which includes Apache 2 and PH 5 and it's working locally on my XP Home laptop.

I don't know if it would stand up to production use, but PHP5 does run with Apache 2.

Just as an aside, the apachefriends Lite is what I'm using and it was effortless to set up. They did a great job.