PH PHP

PHP: Running Code & Tools

Running PHP scripts

php file.php                 # run a script (output goes to stdout)
php -S localhost:8000        # built-in development server

The built-in server is great for local testing. It serves files from the current directory on port 8000.

Editors / IDEs

  • PhpStorm — JetBrains IDE for PHP (the most popular, paid)
  • VS Code — install PHP IntelliSense extension (by Damien Wager) or PHP by DEVSENSE
  • Vim/Neovim with intelephense LSP server
  • Laravel Idea — plugin for PhpStorm if you use Laravel

Composer (package manager)

composer require laravel/framework    # install a package
composer install                       # install from composer.json
composer update                        # update all deps
composer dump-autoload                 # regenerate autoload files

Composer is PHP's dependency manager. It's the equivalent of npm, pip, or cargo.

Local development environments

  • XAMPP — Apache + MySQL + PHP + phpMyAdmin, all-in-one installer
  • Laragon — modern Windows PHP dev environment with Nginx/Apache toggle
  • Docker — official PHP images (php:8.2-apache, php:8.2-fpm)
  • Valet — macOS-only, lightweight for Laravel

Frameworks (most popular)

Framework Use Case
Laravel Full-featured, most popular
Symfony Enterprise, modular components
CodeIgniter Lightweight, simple
WordPress CMS / blogging (not a framework per se, but powers 40% of the web)

Quick check below!

All PHP lessons