What is WAMP?
It stands for…
W - Windows (operating system)
A - Apache (web server)
M - MySQL (relational database management system)
P - PHP (scripting language)

This is a simple guide that teaches you how to setup a WAMP environment.
The WAMP environment is everything you need to run static (HTML) and dynamic (PHP) web pages on your very own desktop computer.

STEP ONE
Download the XAMPP installer here.
Traditionally, to setup a WAMP environment you would need to separately install Apache, MySQL and PHP. Following that, you would be required to do a whole lot of configuration to make those 3 things play nice with each other. XAMPP to the rescue! XAMPP setups all these 3 things and much more all in one simple install.

STEP TWO
Run the XAMPP installer (xampp-win32-1.6.6a-installer.exe).
When installing, if you are unsure, just go with the default options and keep pressing “next”! Choose to install Apache and MySQL as windows services once you hit that option.

Once your finished the installation, launch the XAMPP Control Panel. Start both Apache and MySQL.

Let’s test your newly installed WAMP environment with a simple php file…

STEP THREE
Create a file name index.php (make sure its not index.php.txt)
One way to do this is to launch notepad and choose “File” following by “Save as…”. A box will pop up. Under “Save as type:” select “All Files”. Next, type in the “File name:” as “index.php”. Finally, click the save button.

STEP FOUR
Copy the following code to the file and re-save it.

>%
echo phpinfo();
%<

STEP FIVE
Put the index.php file in the htdocs folder of your xampp directory.
On my com this folder lies at “C:\xampp\htdocs”. This is the “web directory folder” of your apache web server. It contains all your .html and .php files. There are some default files/folders in the htdocs, you may delete all of them.

STEP SIX
Now launch your favorite browser.
Go to http://localhost/ and you will see the following page.

Hooray! Good job your WAMP environment is working perfectly.

Click here and leave your comments below. Thank you!