I'm writing this article assuming you're running Windows XP on your computer. Even if you are not, you can use this article to setup these three on almost all basic Windows flavors.

INSTALLING APACHE

First of all you need to install Apache. You can get a binary installation
file from http://apache.roweboat.net/httpd/binaries/win32/apache_2.0.48-win32-x86-no_ssl.msi

Once you have downloaded the installation file, run it. During the installation
process, it asks you for the following:

The Installation Path

Chose a partition drive (if you have different drives on the same computer),
let us say, C:.

Network Domain

If you are installing (which I guess is the case for the time being) Apache
for learning purpose, it doesn't really matter what you type here. Just enter
yourname.com.

Server Name

Enter www.yourname.com

Administrator's Email Address

Enter you@yourname.com.

For Whom To Install Apache

Select "For All Users". You need to run Apache as a service in order
to make it show your pages. If you select the other option, you may have to
start the service whenever you have to use Apache for development and learning
purposes.

The Installation Type

Select "Custom" and then let it install all the things mentioned
in the list.

That's it. If no catastrophe has occurred yet, Apache should be installed on
your computer. Assuming you chose the c drive, the path of the program should
be: c:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2.

INSTALLING PHP

You can download the latest version of PHP (for Apache on Windows) from http://in.php.net/get/php-5.0.0b4-Win32.zip/from/a/mirror

After you have downloaded the file, extract it in a suitable folder. Let the
path be c:\php.

You can run PHP for Windows in two ways: - a CGI executable (php.exe) and as
an API module. I recommend using the API module and we'll configure PHP that
way.

Once you have installed PHP in c:\php, locate a file there named php.ini. Copy
this file to WINDOWS or WINNT folder.

If it is not already set, set extension_dir=c:\php in your php.ini file.

Now the part where PHP runs as an API module.

You need to locate two files in c:\php and they are php5apache.dll and php5ts.dll.
Make sure these files here in this folder and in the same location.

Remember you installed Apache in c:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2? In
Apache2 there is a folder "conf" and in this there is a file "httpd.conf".
Open this file (I suggest you take a backup of this file before tinkering with
it), and add the following lines somewhere:

LoadModule php5_module c:/php/php5apache2.dll AddType application/x-httpd-php
.php

If you want to use a PHP file (index.php) go to the line that contains:

DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var index.shtml

Add index.php to it such that it appears as

DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var index.shtml index.php

That's it. You are ready to unleash PHP on your computer.

INSTALLING MYSQL

Finally we come to installing MySQL. Now that as soon as you begin programming
in PHP you'll start creating database applications, but now that we are installing
Apache and PHP, it's better to install MySQL too and be done with it.

Download the appropriate zipped file from
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/ and unzip it into some folder other that
mysql (better keep this folder reserved for the actual MySQL program). After
unzipping it, run the setup file and install the whole thing is c:\mysql. MySQL
is installed. It needs to run as a MySQL server in order to make it work with
your PHP program.

In c:\mysql\bin there is a file namely "winmysqladmin.exe". Whenever
you want to use MySQL, first run this program.

Another program that comes in handy while handling MySQL is MySQL-Front that
you can download from http://www.mysqlfront.de/.
We'll come back to this tool once we start studying about MySQL.

By Amrit Hallan

Amrit Hallan is a copywriter and a writer. He writes content for web sites,
articles for various publications and he writes search engine friendly, customized
web page content. You can check out his web site at http://www.amrithallan.com.
If you want to read weekly, thought-provoking essays and articles with a tinge
of humor, you can subscribe to his column at amrithallan.com

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