Web Hosts with Upgrading PHP Delay

Posted by santosj on July 26, 2006

I understand the reason, but I can’t help but feel angry. For an Network Administrator to roll out an application without testing is not wise. However, it took a long time for Dreamhost to allow their users to work with PHP 5 without the user installing it for themselves. I have heard that some hosts still have their head up their asses and force their users to use PHP 4.

I have tried on multiple occasions to setup my own web server on my computer to develop and test my scripts. On Windows with Apache, forget it. Xitami is for people like me who can’t or choose not to take the time to correctly setup Apache with PHP. Spending 4+ hours on research, testing, and configuration can drive me crazy.

Oh yeah, I did get it to work once, but it was one of those A(Apache)M(Mysql)P(PHP) for Windows. If all you are doing is testing your site on Windows, Xitami is a lot easier in my humble opinion.

XDebug: A Reason to Install PHP for Yourself

I will install PHP with XDebug to see where I’m going wrong with my PHP development. If it can let me know where my head is up my ass and how much overhead my objects have, then I’m all for it. Also, I would also like to test other applications to see where I can help.

It is an interesting topic about optimization, class overhead, and application bottlenecks. I don’t program to make money, it would be nice, but learning is fun and these topics are ripe for the picking.

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5 Comments.

  1. Glo July 26, 2006 at 10:04 am

    Difficulty using Apache on Windows? May I recommend XAMPP from ApacheFriends.org?

    I host on Dreamhost too: Debian based machines. I develop on Win2K. I found XAMPP to be a single packaging of Apache, PHP (4 and 5, user swithcable), MySQL, plus a brace of other normally Unix hosted web server tools to be the best Windows configuration. Give it a shot.

  2. Jacob Santos July 26, 2006 at 10:24 am

    Thank you! I believe that is the package that I used more than 2 years ago.

    I’m done with doing the whole installing a web server on my main computer action. Once I get my second machine up (missing a Graphics Card), I want to install a web server for local testing. I do repository work that would be too much work uploading the directory to a web server for testing. Initial testing must be done at my end.

  3. honesty July 26, 2006 at 11:07 am

    if you can’t figure out how to setup a webserver, you should probably give up PHP while you’re ahead.

  4. Jacob Santos July 26, 2006 at 11:34 am

    I’m sorry honesty, but is that really the best method? You can not forget what you’ve learned, unless you have a heavy blunt object available. Even if you stop and stay away from PHP, the information will still remain somewhere in the mind waiting to be used once you are again ready.

    Would you say that to novices?

    Honesty’s Nazi PHP Learning Camp: (First Day)

    Would be coders are chained to their desks, while they moan over their bloody hands and whipped backs.

    “Okay, you punk bitches. In order to learn PHP, YOU WILL learn how to install Apache.”

    One of the novice coders speaks softly, “Um, do we get to eat afterwards?”

    “That is yet to be decided, pending your innate ability to comprehend OOP.”

  5. random July 26, 2006 at 8:51 pm

    honesty, it’s just not worth the time. With XAMPP it took literally less than five minutes to set up a full LAMP stack and install the PHP application I was working on. Why bother configuring everything myself?