prequel to SQL

Time to star thinking about using structured query language (SQL) to create database structures and manipulate data

But before we do, we'll be needing a local development environment with a web server, database server and php scripting engine all rolled into one... XAMPP

Install this on your operating system of choice and bingo - you've got a grown up web server in a tiny little package.

To check that it's working start the program (on a windows machine that will be something like running C:\xampplite\xampp_start.exe) and then type: http://127.0.0.1 into your web browser's address bar. This should display the home page for your new local web server.

If everything's working OK you should see the xampp home page - and on the left a link to your phpMyAdmin page where we'll be setting up a database and single table as outlined in this PHP/mySQL tutorial

Try it out and post some php pages to the local server's root (somewhere like: C:\xampplite\htdocs) remember, test them by calling the local host ip address (e.g. http://127.0.0.1/test.php)

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