confusion - use of apache?

[boringnews]

i've been trying to find tutorials on screen scraping, and some recommend using apache -- how would this beneficial over a regular text editor. i'm also on a mac, and it seems it only runs on windows?

also if you have ever screen-scraped and have tips or know of a good tutorial to use to learn how, please let me know!

thanks!

[laserlight]

how would this beneficial over a regular text editor

Apache is a web server, and that is a very different beast from a text editor. What these people are probably suggesting is that you install Apache (or some other web server) and PHP on your local computer so as to be able to test your PHP scripts locally. They are not suggesting that Apache can replace your text editor or IDE.

i'm also on a mac, and it seems it only runs on windows?

A glance on the download section of the Apache web server website shows that sources are provided for Unix (and Unix-like systems) and Windows, with binaries provided for certain operating systems including Windows but apparently not Mac OS X. On the other hand I searched and found a series of articles that may interest you: Apache Web-Serving with Mac OS X.