EasyPHP

Developers surely have their favorite tools when it comes to scripting, debugging, database administration and other tasks. If someone is interested in this field, there are many utilities that can be tried and most of them are open-source to allow contributors to extend the functions of the original package.

When it comes to ready to use environments, one of the packages that is especially aimed at those in the beginning of their programmer's career is EasyPHP. It comes in several flavors, each corresponding to a specific edition of PHP and is ready to be used right out of the box.

Another particularity of this software is that you can carry it on a portable storage device and run it from there, thus allowing you to take your work with you in a very simple manner.

The great thing about this software is that it comes pre-configured and, thus, the user doesn't have to do anything more than install and run it. EasyPHP bundles an Apache web server, MySQL server, as well as a debugger, Xdebug to be more precise and for database management, PhpMyAdmin.

Each of the components can be configured from the browser-based 'Options' sections. With powerful logging features and extensible functionality, EasyPHP is well suited for the installation of web applications like WordPress, Joomla, phpBB or Drupal.

One thing you must remember when using this tool is to keep your files either in the 'www' folder or inside an alias you created. This way, your pages with the PHP extension will be interpreted correctly.

All things considered, EasyPHP is indeed a very simple and straightforward development environment that can be used with minimal efforts by less experienced users, even though it might be an attractive alternative for advanced programmers.