teaching_web_development

Installation Guide

This guide will help you set up a local development environment.Below is a clear, step-by-step guide to installing PHP for undergraduate web programming. It covers the three most common platforms and ends with a quick sanity check and common pitfalls.

Installing PHP (for Web Programming)

This guide installs PHP 8.x, suitable for modern web development and coursework.

1. Check if PHP is already installed

Open a terminal (Command Prompt / PowerShell on Windows) and run:

php -v

If you see a version number (e.g. PHP 8.2.x), PHP is already installed. If not, follow the instructions below.

2. Installing PHP on macOS

Best Option

MAMP is a popular choice for macOS, bundling Apache, MySQL, and PHP. However, for simplicity and ease of use, we recommend using Homebrew to install PHP directly.
MAMP for Windows installation video by Chuch Severance
Start MAMP and navigate to http://localhost:8888 to verify the installation.
MAMP localhost shows the MAMP welcome page.

Installing web development tools

To enhance your web development experience, consider installing the following browser extensions:

Chris Pederick’s Web Developer Extension: A browser extension that adds various web development tools.

Miscellaneous

Option B: Homebrew

Most students on macOS should use Homebrew.

Step 1: Install Homebrew (if needed)

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Restart the terminal after installation.

Step 2: Install PHP

brew install php

Step 3: Verify

php -v

You should see something like:

PHP 8.2.x (cli)

Where PHP lives on macOS

Executable: /opt/homebrew/bin/php (Apple Silicon)
Config file: /opt/homebrew/etc/php/8.2/php.ini

3. Installing PHP on Windows

Option A (recommended): XAMPP (simplest for beginners)

XAMPP bundles PHP + Apache + MySQL, which is ideal for learning.

Step 1: Download XAMPP

Download from: https://www.apachefriends.org
Choose a version with PHP 8.x

Step 2: Install

Run the installer
Keep default options (Apache + PHP checked)

Step 3: Verify PHP

Open XAMPP Shell or Command Prompt and run:

php -v

If not recognised:

PHP is located at: C:\xampp\php\php.exe
You may need to add this to your PATH

Option C (advanced): PHP only

Download PHP from: https://windows.php.net/download/

Choose Thread Safe
Extract to C:\php
Add C:\php to PATH
Restart terminal

4. Installing PHP on Linux (Ubuntu / Debian)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php php-cli php-common

Optional but useful extensions:

sudo apt install php-curl php-mbstring php-xml php-mysql

Verify:

php -v

5. Running a PHP web server (very important)

PHP includes a built-in development web server.

Step 1: Create a test file

Create index.php:

<?php
echo "Hello, PHP!";

Step 2: Start the server

From the directory containing index.php:

php -S localhost:8000

Step 3: Open browser

Visit:

http://localhost:8000

You should see:

Hello, PHP!

6. PHP vs HTML — how they work together

.html → static, served as-is
.php → executed on the server, then HTML is sent to the browser

Example:

<?php
$name = "Student";
?>
<!doctype html>
<html>
<body>
  <h1>Hello <?= $name ?></h1>
</body>
</html>

7. Common problems & fixes

❌ `php: command not found`

PHP not installed or not on PATH
Restart terminal
On Windows, ensure C:\xampp\php is in PATH

❌ PHP code shows as text in browser

You opened the file directly (file://)
Use php -S localhost:8000 and access via http://

❌ Wrong PHP version

macOS: brew upgrade php
Linux: sudo apt upgrade php

8. Recommended setup for your students

For first-year undergraduates, I recommend:

macOS → Homebrew + PHP built-in server
Windows → XAMPP
Linux → apt install php
Editor → VS Code with:
- PHP Intelephense
- PHP Debug (later)

9. Quick checklist (for a lab handout)

php -v works
php -S localhost:8000 runs
Browser loads localhost:8000
.php files execute correctly

This site is open source. Improve this page.