XAMPP tutorial: installation and first steps

XAMPP is the title used for a compilation of free software. The name is an acronym, with each letter representing one of the five key components. The software packet contains the web server Apache, the relational database management system MySQL (or MariaDB), and the scripting languages Perl and PHP. The initial X stands for the operating systems that it works with: Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

• Apache: ihe open source web server Apache is the most widely used server worldwide for delivery of web content. The server application is made available as a free software by the Apache Software Foundation.

• MySQL/MariaDB: in MySQL, XAMPP contains one of the most popular relational database management systems in the world. In combination with the web server Apache and the scripting language PHP, MySQL offers data storage for web services. Current XAMPP versions have replaced MySQL with MariaDB (a community-developed fork of the MySQL project, made by the original developers).

• PHP: the server-side programming language PHP enables users to create dynamic websites or applications. PHP can be installed on all platforms and supports a number of diverse database systems.

• Perl: the scripting language Perl is used in system administration, web development, and network programming. Like PHP, Perl also enables users to program dynamic web applications.

Alongside these core components, this free-to-use Apache distribution contains some other useful tools, which vary depending on your operating system. These tools include the mail server Mercury, the database administration tool phpMyAdmin, the web analytics software solutions Webalizer, OpenSSL, and Apache Tomcat, and the FTP servers FileZilla or ProFTPd.