What Is a WAMP, MAMP, or LAMP?

WAMP, MAMP, and LAMP are abbreviations for “Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP,” “Mac, Apache, MySQL, and PHP,” and “Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.” These abbreviations each describe a fully functioning setup used for developing dynamic internet web pages.

WAMPs, MAMPs, and LAMPs come in the form of packages that bind the bundled programs together so that you don’t have to install and set them up separately. This means you can simply download and install a single program and follow a few easy prompts to get your web development server up and running fast, with minimal hassle.

During installation, several default settings are created for you. The security configurations of such an installation will not be as tight as on a production web server, because it is optimized for local use. For these reasons, you should never install such a setup as a production server.

However, for developing and testing websites and applications, one of these installations should be entirely sufficient.

Installing AMPPS on Windows

There are several available WAMP servers, each offering slightly different configurations. Of the various open source and free options, one of the best is AMPPS. You can download it by clicking the button on the website’s home page, shown in Figure 2-1.

I recommend that you always download the latest stable release (as I write this, it’s 3.8, which is about 128 MB in size). The various Windows, macOS, and Linux installers are listed on the download page.

Figure 2-1. The AMPPS website

Once you’ve downloaded the installer, run it to bring up the window shown in Figure 2-2. Before arriving at that window, though, if you use an antivirus program or have User Account Control activated on Windows, you may first be shown one or more advisory notices, and will have to click Yes and/or OK to continue with the installation.

Click Next, after which you must accept the agreement. Click Next once again, and then once more to move past the information screen. You will now need to confirm the installation location. This will probably be suggested as something like the following, depending on the letter of your main hard drive, but you can change this if you wish:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Ampps

Figure 2-2. The opening window of the installer

Once you have decided where to install AMPPS, click Next, choose a Start menu folder name, and click Next again. You can choose which icons you wish to install, as shown in Figure 2-3. On the screen that follows, click the Install button to start the process.

Figure 2-3. Choose which icons to install

Installation will take a few minutes, after which you should see the completion screen in Figure 2-4, and you can click Finish.

Figure 2-4. AMPPS is now installed

The final thing you must do is install C++ Redistributable Visual Studio, if you haven’t already. Visual Studio is an environment in which you’ll be doing development work. A window will pop up to prompt you, as shown in Figure 2-5. Click Yes to start the installation or No if you are certain you already have it.

If you choose to go ahead and install, you will have to agree to the terms and conditions in the pop-up window that appears, and then click Install. Installation of this should be fairly fast. Click Close to finish.

Once AMPPS is installed, the control window shown in Figure 2-6 should appear at the bottom right of your desktop. You can also call up this window using the AMPPS application shortcut in the Start menu or on the desktop, if you allowed these icons to be created.

Figure 2-6. The AMPPS control window

Before proceeding, I recommend you acquaint yourself with the AMPPS documentation. Once you have digested this, should you still have an issue, there’s a Support link at the bottom of the control window that will take you to the AMPPS website, where you can open up a trouble ticket.

Testing the Installation

The first thing to do at this point is verify that everything is working correctly. To do this, enter either of the following two URLs into the address bar of your browser:

localhost
127.0.0.1

This will call up an introductory screen, where you will have the opportunity to secure AMPPS by giving it a password (see Figure 2-7). I recommend you don’t check the box and just click the Submit button to proceed without setting a password.

Figure 2-7. The initial security setup screen

Once this has been done you will be taken to the main control page at localhost/ampps/ (from now on I will assume you are accessing AMPPS through localhost rather than 127.0.0.1). From here you can configure and control all aspects of the AMPPS stack, so make a note of this for future reference, or perhaps set a bookmark in your browser.

Next, type the following to view the document root (described in the following section) of your new Apache web server:

localhost

This time, rather than seeing the initial screen about setting up security, you should see something similar to Figure 2-8.

Figure 2-8. Viewing the document root

Accessing the Document Root (Windows)

The document root is the directory that contains the main web documents for a domain. This directory is the one that the server uses when a basic URL without a path is typed into a browser, such as http://yahoo.com or, for your local server, http://localhost.

By default AMPPS will use the following location as the document root:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Ampps\www

To ensure that you have everything correctly configured, you should now create the obligatory “Hello World” file. So, create a small HTML file along the following lines using Windows Notepad or any other program or text editor, but not a rich word processor such as Microsoft Word (unless you save as plain text):

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <title>A quick test</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    Hello World!
  </body>
</html>

Once you have typed this, save the file into the document root directory, using the filename test.html. If you are using Notepad, make sure that the value in the “Save as type” box is changed from “Text Documents (*.txt)” to “All Files (*.*)”.

You can now call this page up in your browser by entering the following URL in its address bar (see Figure 2-9):

localhost/test.html

Figure 2-9. Your first web page

Note

Remember that serving a web page from the document root (or a subfolder) is different from loading one into a web browser from your computer’s filesystem. The former will ensure access to PHP, MySQL, and all the features of a web server, while the latter will simply load the file into the browser, which will do its best to display it but will be unable to process any PHP or other server instructions. So, you should generally run examples using the localhost preface from your browser’s address bar, unless you are certain that the file doesn’t rely on web server functionality.

Installing AMPPS on macOS

AMPPS is also available on macOS, and you can download it from the website, as shown previously in Figure 2-1 (as I write, the current version is 3.8 and its size is around 270 MB).

If your browser doesn’t open it automatically once it has downloaded, double-click the .dmg file, and then drag the AMPPS folder over to your Applications folder (see Figure 2-10).

Figure 2-10. Drag the AMPPS folder to Applications

Now open your Applications folder in the usual manner, and double-click the AMPPS program. If your security settings prevent the file being opened, hold down the Control key and click the icon once. A new window will pop up asking if you are sure you wish to open it. Click Open to do so. When the app starts you may have to enter your macOS password to proceed.

Once AMPPS is up and running, a control window similar to the one shown in Figure 2-6 will appear at the bottom left of your desktop.

/Applications/Ampps/www

<html>
  <head>
    <title>A quick test</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    Hello World!
  </body>
</html>

localhost/test.html

Installing a LAMP on Linux

This book is aimed mostly at PC and Mac users, but its contents will work equally well on a Linux computer. However, there are dozens of popular flavors of Linux, and each of them may require installing a LAMP in a slightly different way, so I can’t cover them all in this book.

That said, many Linux versions come preinstalled with a web server and MySQL, and the chances are that you may already be all set to go. To find out, try entering the following into a browser and see whether you get a default document root web page:

localhost

If this works, you probably have the Apache server installed and may well have MySQL up and running too; check with your system administrator to be sure.

If you don’t yet have a web server installed, however, there’s a version of AMPPS available that you can download from the website.

Installation is similar to the sequence shown in the preceding section. If you need further assistance on using the software, please refer to the documentation.

Working Remotely

If you have access to a web server already configured with PHP and MySQL, you can always use that for your web development. But unless you have a high-speed connection, it is not always your best option. Developing locally allows you to test modifications with little or no upload delay.

Accessing MySQL remotely may not be easy either. You should use the secure SSH protocol to log into your server to manually create databases and set permissions from the command line. Your web hosting company will advise you on how best to do this and provide you with any password it has set for your MySQL access (as well as, of course, for getting into the server in the first place). Unless you have no choice, I recommend you do not use the insecure Telnet protocol to remotely log into any server.

ssh mylogin@server.com

Using FTP

To transfer files to and from your web server, you will need an FTP program. If you go searching the web for a good one, you’ll find so many that it could take you quite a while to come across one with all the right features for you.

My preferred FTP program is the open source FileZilla, for Windows, Linux, and macOS 10.5 or newer (see Figure 2-11). Full instructions on how to use FileZilla are available on the wiki.

Figure 2-11. FileZilla is a full-featured FTP program

Of course, if you already have an FTP program, all the better—stick with what you know.

Using a Program Editor

Although a plain-text editor works for editing HTML, PHP, and JavaScript, there have been some tremendous improvements in dedicated program editors, which now incorporate very handy features such as colored syntax highlighting. Today’s program editors are smart and can show you where you have syntax errors before you even run a program. Once you’ve used a modern editor, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without one.

There are a number of good programs available, but I have settled on Editra (see Figure 2-12), because it’s free and available on macOS, Windows, and Linux/Unix, and it suits the way I program. You can download a copy by visiting Editra’s website and selecting the Download link at the top of the page, where you can also find a link to the documentation. Everyone has different programming styles and preferences, though, so if you don’t get on with it, there are plenty more program editors available to choose from—or you may wish to go directly for an integrated development environment (IDE), as described in the following section.

Figure 2-12. Program editors (like Editra, pictured here) are superior to plain-text editors

As you can see from Figure 2-12, Editra highlights the syntax appropriately, using colors to help clarify what’s going on. What’s more, you can place the cursor next to brackets or braces, and Editra will highlight the matching ones so that you can check whether you have too many or too few. In fact, Editra does a lot more in addition, which you will discover and enjoy as you use it.

Again, if you have a different preferred program editor, use that; it’s always a good idea to use programs you’re already familiar with.

Using an IDE

As good as dedicated program editors can be for your programming productivity, their utility pales into insignificance when compared to integrated development environments, which offer many additional features such as in-editor debugging and program testing, as well as function descriptions and much more.

Figure 2-13 shows the popular phpDesigner IDE with a PHP program loaded into the main frame, and the righthand Code Explorer listing the various classes, functions, and variables that it uses.

Figure 2-13. When you’re using an IDE such as phpDesigner, PHP development becomes much quicker and easier

When developing with an IDE, you can set breakpoints and then run all (or portions) of your code, which will stop at the breakpoints and provide you with information about the program’s current state.

As an aid to learning programming, the examples in this book can be entered into an IDE and run there and then, without the need to call up your web browser. There are several IDEs available for different platforms, most of which are commercial, but there are some free ones too. Table 2-1 lists some of the most popular PHP IDEs, along with their download URLs.

Choosing an IDE can be a very personal thing, so if you intend to use one, I advise you to download a couple or more to try them out first; they all either have trial versions or are free to use, so it won’t cost you anything.

You should take the time to install a program editor or IDE you are comfortable with now; you’ll then be ready to try out the examples in the coming chapters.

Armed with these tools, you are now ready to move on to Chapter 3, where we’ll start exploring PHP in further depth and find out how to get HTML and PHP to work together, as well as how the PHP language itself is structured. But before moving on, I suggest you test your new knowledge with the following questions.

Questions

1. What is the difference between a WAMP, a MAMP, and a LAMP?

2. What do the IP address 127.0.0.1 and the URL http://localhost have in common?

3. What is the purpose of an FTP program?

4. Name the main disadvantage of working on a remote web server.

5. Why is it better to use a program editor instead of a plain-text editor?

See “Chapter 2 Answers” in Appendix A for the answers to these questions.