The most recent version of this tutorial has been completely re-written at WebDev Codex.

Learn how to Install PHP 5.3,

To view the latest version, Goto Screencast #1 : Installing Apache 2.2, PHP 5.3, MySQL 5.1 & PHPMyAdmin 3.2 for Windows 7/Vista

If you want to see the screencast of this tutorial, then goto
Screencast #1 : Installing Apache 2.2, PHP 5.3, MySQL 5.1 & PHPMyAdmin 3.2 for Windows 7/Vista

Not everyone would spend money online to buy webspace just so that they can test out how their latest application works, Well… Welcome to Vision Master Designs Blog. This tutorial will teach you to set up a developer environment for PHP/MySQL in your computer in no time.

Index :

• Page 1 : Introduction
• Page 2 : Create Directories & Install Apache
• Page 3 : Install PHP5 & Configure php.ini
• Page 4 : Configure Apache 2.2
• Page 5 : Installing & Configuring MySQL5
• Page 6 : Installing & Configuring PhpMyAdmin

If you are aware of the basics then Click Here to jump below, else read on.

Normally we can view HTML pages on our computer without the need of uploading them to the server, since HTML is a Client Side Language. You don`t need any extra software to view html files, just any browser will do the trick.
But if you want to make your pages dynamic using any Server Side Language (PHP,ASP,JSP) & want to the see the results then you must upload the file to the webserver which supports that language so it can execute the file & return the results on your browser

We can set up a developers environment from which you can create and execute PHP/MySQL scripts by installing the above mentioned applications.

Now, The Pre-Requisites :

1. Apache HTTP Server (2.2.11): The best open source webserver. You need this to turn your humble computer to a powerful webserver to execute your applications.
   Direct Download apache_2.2.11-win32-x86-no_ssl-r2.msi
   Apache Download Page – Please Download the Win32 Binary without crypto (no mod_ssl) (MSI Installer) – apache_2.2.11-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi~ 4.3MB
2. PHP (5.2.9) : One of the most powerful web programming languages.
   Direct Download PHP 5.2.9 -2 zip package
   PHP Download Page – Download the PHP 5.2.9 – 2 Zip package ~ 10MB
3. MySQL (5.1.34) : One of the best DBMS packages which is free.
   The latest version is 5.1.34 which is stable and used in production servers. Although MySQL 5.1 and MySQL 6 are also available as beta releases, they are not used in production servers as of now.
   MySQL Download Page – Please download Windows ZIP/Setup.EXE (x86) 5.1.34 ~ 35.2MB
4. PhpMyAdmin (3.1.4) : Used to manage your MySQL databases directly using your web browser.
   Direct Download phpMyAdmin-3.1.4-all-languages.zip
   PHPMyAdmin Download Page – Please download the latest release from the 3.x rooster.

The above downloads are compatible with Windows Vista/Vista SP1 (32 bit OS).

It seems Google wants to take over the world, Earlier this week Google released its own web browser Chrome. You can Read the previous post for more information. Currently its available for download only in the Windows Platform (Windows XP SP2/Windows Vista). A statement by Google co-founder Sergey Brin has linked Chrome with Google’s upcoming mobile operating system Android. Just in case if you are wondering what is Android, Android is Google’s Open Source Operating System for the mobile phones (just like Microsoft’s Windows Mobile), already the first handset in development by HTC powered by Android is going to roll out in Q4 2008 or early 2009. The handset is named HTC Dream.

In a recent interview with CNET,Brin claimed that “…a subsequent version of Android is going to pick up a lot of the Chrome stack.”

Both browsers i.e Chrome and Android’s Web Browser are built with the same Webkit rendering engine (Other browsers such as Safari(iPhone), Safari Mobile, and Nokia’s S60 Browser are also powered by this engine) however other features such as the user interface, CSS and JavaScript engines, and support for extensions and plugins will be the ones to look out for.

Google has announced Chrome to be available on both Mac and Linux in the near feature, although the dates not given yet. (You can run Chrome in Linux using Wine though)

Greetings,

Most of you must have heard of “Ruby on Rails (RoR)”. It being touted as the next best thing (apart from php ). Well lemme give you a lowdown of what Ruby on Rails is…

I`ll try to explain the power of RoR in the simplest of words,

If PHP can do something after typing 75 lines of code, RoR can do the same thing in typing mearly 3 lines of code !!!!
Thats as simple is it gets ! But then again, there is a catch to it, RoR is equally complex. So Today, I`ll just give you the basic idea of what Ruby on Rails is, and how to set up a developer environment for RoR, So next time we can directly start creating applications. woohoo !

But Firstly the basics.
If you are aware of the basics then Click Here to jump below, else read on.

“Ruby is a dynamic, reflective, general purpose object-oriented programming language that combines syntax inspired by Perl with Smalltalk-like features. Ruby was initially developed and designed by Yukihiro “Matz” Matsumoto.”

• Ruby is very similar to our native object-oriented programming languages (eg: C++,Java).
• You can define variables using ‘@’ symbol.
• You can define functions, more commonly known as methods using

  def method_name
  ....
  end

“Ruby on Rails is framework developed particularly for web applications. The framework is coded using Ruby. It basically makes our lives easier by generating code automatically on execution of a single piece of code.

• It uses the MVC Architecture. (Model-View-Controller, I`ll be explainin this in the next tutorial, which will be ‘Creating Your First RoR Application’)

I like to tell you that, its not easy deploying a RoR application (Thats right, its an application, not a script or a piece of code, but a combination of lots of directories & files).
Its not anything like the php scripts we upload to the server and run the script by pointing to the right address, there are various modes on how a RoR application is executed (Eg. developer, test, production).

Enough of the technical mumbo-jumbo, lets get down business.

Pre-Requisites :

1. Webserver + MySQL installed
2. Ruby (1.8.6) : We need to install the basic ruby binaries and extensions to execute RoR applications.
   Download ruby186-26.exe

Basically you must have a normal php/mysql developer environment already installed, if not, you can refer to my earlier tutorial i.e
Tutorial : Installing Apache, PHP5, MySQL5, PhpMyAdmin 2.11 in Windows Vista/XP