Do you really need access to a server to learn PHP

DeMMo

Ok Ok I know all you professional people are out there, laughing at this thread but its just a simple question from a simple guy. Hey less of it you two at the back.

Look here it is, I wanna learn PHP, cmon I need to, Im supposedly a web designer?!

I look after my work web site but you see its basically all done for me, its X-cart so although I have come across PHP and the rest Its not something that Im up to speed with.

Now getting back to my original question. What I want to know is Do i need access to a server to learn all this php stuff? Obviously i have a server that my work site is on but id prefer to steer clear from that and just learn from home. Im on Mac at work so whenever Ive looked into doing anything its never as straight forward as any of that. All instructions say this then thats not available etc etc etc, so i just wanna know can I install php on my little old computer and use that to set up some sort of local server etc etc?

Would appreciate any comments, apart from anyone who just wants to laugh at me :bemused:

suntra

Well, you can learn everything by heart by reading the documentation at www.php.net, but it is MUCH EASIER to remember when you can test...

You can try to write code on some sheets of paper, but again, a server would be better...

leatherback

Hey DeMMo,

No, you do not need a server to learn php.

That being said. Yes you need a server to LEARN php.

There are people that learn languages from books and tapes. And they claim to speak a language. I have learned a few languages in my life, and only until I started using them, I really started to learn it. You run into the trouble which the book doesn't mention (: Hey, what the F.. In Central America the Spanish is different from in Spain!; Hm.. It should compile. Why doesn't this work with an extra quote).

So; yes you need a server. However, you can also set one up at home quite easily. I am unfortunately I 'windows person', by history. Have been working on a MS machine for too long, and feel that I have to re-learn to much to start using nix; been considering a mac though

If I am correct, the Mac has a build-in webserver. Otherwise I am sure apache will have a compilation suitable for the mac. The same for PhP and Mysql. Get those, install them, get frustrated, post questions in the getting started sections, and then.. Come back to discover the language.

I do not know your knowledge of computer programming. If you are new at it: You will be frustrated. Read the forums, especially how to ask the right question kind-a threads, try, and ask. Everybody here is genuinely trying to help. Some of us have unfortunately forgotten that really.. the first few weeks are hardest.

And use the manual, at php.net. It is a great resource, albeit a bit hard to use at first..

And don't forget: Have fun.

Jelle.

DeMMo

You see thats why Id like to learn it from my own PC so that the instructions that i get told I can then follow rather than wondering what they mean because the so and so doesnt exist.

Ive even had it today from some PHP site, download php and then go to my control panel, click on IIS properties and etc etc etc. Well Ive done this, done that and oh guess what I dont even have IIS in there so again. Im stumped.

I sometimes think i need to get someone to just sit next to me to help get me started, so that when something doesnt go to form i can just ask that question and be told the answer.

I know I know I know, yes thats what the forum is for but obviously you get a lot of people who seem to be a little harsh when being asked Stuupid questions by a complete novice.

bradgrafelman

DeMMo wrote:
Well Ive done this, done that and oh guess what I dont even have IIS in there so again. Im stumped

That's probably because you're not running a Windows Server operating system (is IIS offered for WinXP Pro?... I don't remember...).

What you'll want to look at is probably Apache. Now, I point people in the direction of Apache because I think installing PHP should be part of the learning process of using it. If you can't figure it out, however, there are always solutions like WAMP (or XAMPP, etc. etc.).

MarkR

You do need a server, but that can be your own machine.

Packages are available for Mac and Windows which include Apache, MySQL and PHP already configured- most Linux distributions already include those packages so it's simply a matter of installing the already bundled ones.

Once installed and set up correctly, you can simply work on your local machine and access your site(s) via URLs like http://localhost/ (Or perhaps with a nonstandard port number if you want to have several sites).

Mark

Piranha

DeMMo wrote:
I know I know I know, yes thats what the forum is for but obviously you get a lot of people who seem to be a little harsh when being asked Stuupid questions by a complete novice.

I know that I can sometimes be one of those people. But that is only when people haven't tried to look up the problem and solve it first (or at least not told that they did try). Also many of the harsh answers actually are to get people to help themselfes instead of posting a thread the first thing they do. Don't get me wrong, of course people should post questions, but if they haven't tried to solve the problem first it feels kind of useless to do their job for them.

I hope that you don't think that the paragraph above is to harsh. I go straight to the point, and sometimes people think that is harsh, even though that is not my intention.

Going on. I don't think that setting up everything should be part of the initial learning experience. There are to much other things to consider in the beginning wothout having to worry about that. I would just download xampp and get started.

When you can handle PHP is the time to learn to set up everything yourself. As I said before it is enough to learn anyway. And before you know the language itself it is really hard to know what settings to have in all config files.

When everything is installed I think you should do a few tutorials, this one is the one that I used. Then start to program, and start with easy things and do them more advanced all the time.

NogDog

Zend.com has a pretty thorough beginner's tutorial: http://devzone.zend.com/node/view/id/627

DeMMo

Of course I dont think that was harsh Piranha. But you know what I mean, sometimes these forums (and Ive been on a few) can get very territorial and sometimes peoples swimming on the upper levels dont like the smaller more single celled organism dipping there feet in their ponds. They'd prefer they swim elsewhere.

Anyway back to reality, Ive managed to find another thread that mentioned EasyPHP which has installed on my Windows XP computer and seems to have installed everything I need for it, PHP PHP Admin, SQL and Apache.

Like you said Piranha there is more to just getting started and typing your first <?php than meets the eye.

Thanks everyone anyway, will try and crack on with some tutorials now.

bpat1434

DeMMo:

From my experience, if you really want to learn PHP, it's best if you can set up everything, yourself. That way if anything goes wrong, you can fix it. I personally prefer to download and install one at a time the following:
- Apache 2.0 (not 2.2)
- PHP 4/5 (whichever you prefer)
- MySQL 5 (or 4, whichever you prefer)
- PHPMyAdmin (whatever the latest zip is)

Now, to install, you just do it in this manner:
1.) Download the Apache .msi installer that has no_ssl in the name (Apache_2.0_no_ssl.msi).
2.) Run the Apache installer. For default host, but localhost, for website, put localhost, for admin email, but whatever you want (it won't be used).
3.) Continue on
4.) Download the zip file of PHP 5/4
5.) Unzip the PHP files to somewhere
6.) Install mySQL
7.) Configure everything

I'm short on time for configuration (I'll repost later if I can) but if you just search the web for Apache 2, PHP 5, mySQL Install Tutorial +Windows you'll find loads of info for you.

I personally hate IIS, and can't stand it. Apache does what I need, and does it well. But that's just an opinion.

Houdini

Welcome to these forums and do not be afraid to ask questions. Now that you have a server on your local PC one program that might want to use everynow and then is basically the PHP info program that is merely one line (aside from the opening and closing of PHP <?php and ?>. I know you may see <? and ?> also but these are shortcuts and can cause problems especially if using XML as well as PHP. So the simple info tool is shown below:

<?php
// COMMENT Name this info.php and run it from you server when wanting
// to know what your PHP configuration is at the moment.
phpinfo();
?>

Note the color of the code it is important when showing you problematic script in these forums to present your PHP code as shown above for analysis by others used to what different colors of code mean in situations. You can see how to use this by just clicking the first link in my signature.

A great place to start learning PHP is a free Online Book called Practical PHP Programming , and although the link given here is old and there is a newer version there is a link provided to get to the newest version, although the link will still give plenty of great information.

Once again welcome to the world of PHP.