Appendix A. Installation

When I first started writing about PHP and MySQL it never crossed my mind that so many readers would actually install the software themselves. Of course, this was before the existence of Windows 2000 and Mac OS X, and before the increased desktop usage of Unix (and specifically Linux) operating systems.

Between the advent of newer operating systemsMac OS X is essentially Unix, and Windows XP is built upon Windows NTand easy-to-run installers, it has become very easy for even the beginner developer to turn their home computer into a Web server. And the price of PHP and MySQLfree!literally can't be beat.

As I mention in the introduction to the book, there are three technical requirements: MySQL (the database application), PHP (the scripting language), and the Web serving application (that send requested pages to the browser). In this appendix I will describe the installation of these tools on two different platformsWindows and Macintoshwhich should cover most readers. (My assumption has always been that if you know enough to be running some version of Unix, you probably already know how to install software like PHP and MySQL.)

After covering installation, I discuss related issues that will be of importance to almost every user. First, I introduce how to create users in MySQL. Next, I demonstrate how to test your PHP and MySQL installation, showing techniques you'll want to use when you begin working on any server for the first time. Finally, you'll learn how to configure PHP to change how it runs.