If you are new to PHP web development then a few little known tips can help your process greatly as well as avoid a few mistakes. PHP development uses a scripting language to create web pages and web applications. PHP actually stands for hypertext preprocessor and PHP pages can be used on most serves as the vast majority is configured to accept and use PHP based web pages.

When using PHP for web development it is best to use a Linux operating system, as this is the type of server that can use PHP. PHP runs off of Linux so why would you develop it on a Windows operating system. The big difficulty that can occur is the Linux servers are case sensitive and Windows are not so you may have problems when getting your application up and running.

If your code and links should use different case letters then any of the links will not work. However if you develop the application on Linux then all of your links and code will work and you won’t have to spend extra time changing the links in order to get the page to work. This step is easily avoidable and can make your PHP develop much faster at the beginning.

It can also save you a lot of time by using CVS or SVN. These programs will save the many different versions of your application or web pages so that you can access them if needed. For web development this is important as you will make changes that need to be erased.

You can simply go back and restore the version that does work. This is also handy if you have multiple people working on the same web page as it will compile all of the different peoples work.

These two simple and easy suggestions can make your PHP development much easier, specifically when you are just trying to get the hang of PHP development. It is not necessary that you follow these tips but they will make life easier.

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