Hiya, Ok, I really need help now. I want to learn Php programming. I use windows but I guess the Php scripts I write will be running on Unix/Linux since most webservers of this world are Uniz/linux. Now, my question is : Since there are 2 Php versions (one for Windows and one for Unix/Linux) then will that cause any trouble ? I mean, the tutorials out there, is there a windows tutorial version and a Unix/Linux tutorial version ? If I read the Windows tutorials and the source codes from it then will they work in webservers under Unix/Linux and vice-versa ? Frankly, I am stuck ! I do a search on google and many websites come-up and one says do this and another says do that. So, what should I do ? Where do you recommend I go to download and install Php ? I know, I can always use my webhost's server to upload the Php codes and experiment there but that would mean me losing a lot of band-width while "experimenting" and that's why I preferred to download and install Php on my own computer (Windows) but I am worried that the codes that will work on Windows (my computer) might not work on Unix/Linux (my website). Actually, I can't afford to learn 2 versions of Php (one WIndows and one Unix/Linux) because it is hard enough to learn one version (syntax) in the first-place. So, what do you all suggest ? I definietly need help here as I am totally stuck and don't know what to do.
Apart from filename situations and some really high tech stuff, it will work fine. I code in Windows and upload it to Linux/Unix and all works fine.
There are instances where differences exist, but they pop up a lot more when you are working with specific add-on modules (like curl). For most php coding, everything is the same. Almost all php and php/mysql works the same on Windows or Linux. If you find you are having problems, take a look at the docs. Configuration is a little bit different, but I think you were asking more about on-page coding and testing of pages.
I'm running PHP on my computer at home which is WinXP Home. The servers online are Linux. The code I produce on my computer work just as well as the one's on the server. Because I have WinXP Home, I had problems configuring PHP & MySQL to run on this machine. (A lot easier with XP Pro). I spent the money and got 'Sokkit' (sokkit.net). They also have a 30 trail version. Their download will install PHP & MySQL on your local computer, configure it and you're off to the races. Hope this helps!
There's lots of freen PHP/MySQL distro's out there. The ones I use is by some Australian group, forgot the name, something with Fire in it I believe. EasyPHP is one I used as well. All plain easy to set up.
You might want to run the phpinfo(); command on the remote server you intend using ... this will tell you the version of php that is running together with various environment variables. Download php direct from php.net - the online guides on there are extremely comprehensive and should allow you to make progress without buying any books. For a good headstart, the first chapters of Sitepoint's "Building Database Driven Websites using php and mysql" are available free online, and would give you a nice kick start. Good luck!
Since PHP is open source it can run on any OS but your system should have configuration of PHP definition file. Apache have default configuration of PHP and Linux have default server of Apache. Thats why many people think that PHP can only run of Linux. But if you haven't much knowledge about this. than just download WAMP( for windows system) or LAMP(for Linux system).
Pick up this book. Its big but it will answer all your current questions and your next questions. http://www.amazon.com/PHP-MySQL-Web-Development-Edition/dp/0672329166