Before you dive into the world of PHP programming, it's crucial to get a grasp of the basics. Understanding what PHP programming language is, its history, and its capabilities will set a strong foundation. Additionally, setting up your development environment is key to a smooth learning experience. We strongly recommend using VSCode - Visual Studio Code as your IDE - Integrated Development Environment. Based on our extensive experience with over 15 programming languages, we've found that PHP can be particularly tricky, but a good IDE can significantly reduce errors. VSCode, in our opinion, is the best tool for the job. So, make sure you've read the previous post and completed the necessary installations before moving forward. We'll be using VSCode throughout this tutorial, and we believe you'll find it to be an invaluable asset in your PHP journey.
If you're planning to use Visual Studio Code for PHP
development, you'll need to install a few extensions. While VSCode comes with
some built-in extensions, especially for HTML, learning PHP without
understanding HTML is like trying to build a house without bricks. They go
together. If you need a refresher on HTML, check out this tutorial, here. In
this PHP tutorial, we'll also be using Bootstrap. Don't worry if you're new to
it; we can learn as we go. To get started, fire up XAMPP and start the Apache
server. You don't need MySQL for now. Open Visual Studio Code and click on the
Extensions icon on the left sidebar. Install the following extensions:
- PHP
- PHP Intelephense
- PHP Mess Detector
- phpfmt – PHP Formatter
- PHP Debug
- PHP Getters & Setters
- Auto Close Tag
- Live Server
uninstall it. If everything works as expected, you're ready to start coding!
Dive Into PHP Coding: It's Easier Than You Think!
