How much do I need (newbie) 1

[missplume]

I am just getting my feet wet here. My sites are hosted on outside (commercial) servers that have PHP & SQL. Do I need to install all the server stuff (appache....)on my own computer in order to get started with PHP/SQL?
Apologies if I sound crassly ignorant
Thanks!!

 

[jimoblak]

It is not required that you install PHP on your computer. You can use something like medit to edit files directly on your remote server (

http://www.synametrics.com/SynametricsWebApp/MEdit.jsp

) - - but this is not ideal.

A good developer application will come with a PHP debugger to run on your computer (

http://www.zend.com

) Search this forum for threads about the best IDE for PHP. The suggestions can point you to a developer application with a PHP debugger component.

It is a good idea to install apache/mysql/php locally simply so that you can use your own computer as a test/development server. It is not hard to do with packages like that at

http://www.foxserv.net

- - picklefish - -

Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[missplume]

Sounds Good, Thanks Jimoblack...picklefish

 

[csniffer]

if u have Apache and php installed locally then u can just use a text editor such as WordPad on Windows for php and then they can be debugged through the web browser by making the file extension .phps, this would mean that no additional software would be needed.

To err is human, to completely mess up takes a computer.