


PHP development environment: from installation to the first project practice
Jun 29, 2025 am 02:13 AMTo start a PHP development environment, choose tools like XAMPP, WAMP, or MAMP for local setup. 1) Download and install XAMPP, start Apache and MySQL, place PHP files in htdocs. 2) Set up a structured project layout with separate folders for public files, source code, views, and assets. 3) Write a basic PHP script using echo, test it via localhost, enable error reporting for debugging. Confirm installation by accessing phpinfo(), and ensure proper file permissions to avoid errors during execution.
Starting a PHP development environment might seem like a small step, but it's the foundation of everything you'll build later. Whether you're working on a simple script or a full web application, getting your setup right early on saves headaches down the road.

Choosing Your Local Development Tools
The first thing you need is a way to run PHP locally. Most developers go with XAMPP, WAMP, or MAMP — they all bundle Apache, MySQL, and PHP into one easy-to-install package.

If you're using macOS, MAMP is straightforward. For Windows users, XAMPP tends to be popular because it gives you control over which services you start. There’s also Docker, which is more advanced but gives you better control and consistency across environments.
Here’s what most people do:

- Download and install XAMPP from the official site
- Start Apache and MySQL through the control panel
- Place PHP files in the
htdocs
folder to run them
No matter which tool you choose, make sure PHP is properly linked and that you can access phpinfo()
through your browser. That’s how you confirm everything is working.
Setting Up a Basic Project Structure
Once PHP is running, the next step is organizing your project. A clean structure helps as things grow. Most beginners just drop files into the root, but that gets messy fast.
Instead, create folders for different parts of your app. Something like this:
/my-project /public index.php /src functions.php /views home.php /assets style.css
This separates public-facing files from internal logic. You’ll route everything through public/index.php
, include necessary files from /src
, and use views for HTML templates. It’s not mandatory at first, but it makes scaling easier later.
One thing many overlook: file permissions. If your PHP scripts can’t write to certain directories (like for logs or uploads), you’ll hit errors that aren’t obvious. So always check folder permissions if something isn't saving or uploading correctly.
Writing Your First PHP Script
Now that everything is set up, let’s test it with a simple script. Go to your htdocs
folder or your project's public
directory and create a file called index.php
. Put this inside:
<?php echo "Hello, PHP!"; ?>
Open your browser and visit http://localhost/index.php
. If you see “Hello, PHP!” printed out, congrats — your environment works.
From here, you can start experimenting. Try including other files, connecting to MySQL, or building a basic form handler. Just remember to turn on error reporting during development by adding this at the top of your script:
ini_set('display_errors', 1); error_reporting(E_ALL);
That way, any issues will show up clearly instead of failing silently.
At this point, you’ve got a working local environment, a basic structure, and your first PHP script running. The rest is just building on these pieces — no magic involved, just practice and patience.
The above is the detailed content of PHP development environment: from installation to the first project practice. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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