Guide for XAmpp and/or Apache

[RichardOnRails]

Hi,

I just noted in the download of Dupont's Practical Prototype and script.aculo.us that XAmpp is recommended as a test environment for his code examples.

So, I downloaded/installed XAmpp, where MySQL could could not be started because I already had MySQL installed as a service. I uninstalled my version using WinXP's add/remove pgm. Then I used XAmpp's Control Panel to start the new MySQL.

It doesn't seem I need any more info on XAmpp; if I do, where should I look?

I've used MySQL a lot, so I'm OK there.

I've used a couple of of local webservers, e.g. Mongrel, but I sense that Apache is a whole separate beast, so I'd appreciate suggestions about the best way to come up to speed with it. I expect responses from this newsgroup would be much better than the mechanical responses I'd get in a Google search. But if I don't have any luck here, Google will still be my friend

I don't expect to use PHP at all because I'm a Rubyist, but if PHP plays some important role in this package, I'd like to know about it.

Thanks in Advance for any advice you may offer,
Richard

[Altrea]

Hi Richard,

It doesn't seem I need any more info on XAmpp; if I do, where should I look?

At least you should know these information:
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp-windows.html
http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faq-xampp-windows.html
and the readme file which comes with your installation.

But it can't be wrong to read some of the threads here in this forum too to get the latest news about problems, solutions and security risks of your XAMPP installation.

I don't expect to use PHP at all because I'm a Rubyist, but if PHP plays some important role in this package, I'd like to know about it.

Well, X A M P P stands for the major components of this stack:

X stands for multiplatform (Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac OSX)
Apache
MySQL
PERL
PHP

so yes, PHP plays a big role in this stack. It's the component which is more than the other components integrated into this Apache. But you don't need to use any php if you don't want to, exept the XAMPP Administration Panel which is partly written in PHP.

[RichardOnRails]

Thanks for spelling out the acronym. It only conjured up electronics in my reptile brain.

As for being free to ignore PHP, it reminds of me of a software author who quipped something like

When I want to know the time, the gears and levers inside the watch don't matter to me at all! They only matter to the watch!

Did you have any thoughts about Apache docs/tutorials, perhaps slanted to the XAmpp environment?
--
Richard

[Altrea]

Did you have any thoughts about Apache docs/tutorials, perhaps slanted to the XAmpp environment?

I've edited my first post with the minimum knowledge you should have about the XAMPP stack.

Everything else depends on "how much of the gears and levers inside the watch" you want to know and want to get in touch.
For everything about Apache configuration the Apache Docs is a good start

[RichardOnRails]

the Apache Docs is a good start

Great. Thanks for all your responses.

Best wishes,
Richard