01 Install PHP

Goal

Get PHP installed with the built-in web server available, so you can run and serve PHP scripts with no extra tooling.

Steps

macOS

brew install php

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install php-cli

Windows

Download the latest non-thread-safe zip from windows.php.net/download and add it to your PATH. WSL2 with the Linux steps above is the smoother path if you have it available.

Verify

php -v

Expected output (your version may differ):

PHP 8.3.6 (cli) (built: Apr 10 2024 09:12:12) (NTS)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.3.6, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies

Checkpoint

Create hello.php:

<?php
echo "Hello, PHP!\n";

Run it directly with the CLI:

php hello.php

Expected output:

Hello, PHP!

Then start the built-in web server, which is what the rest of this tier's JSON API runs on:

php -S localhost:8000

Visiting http://localhost:8000/hello.php in a browser should print the same greeting.

Next

Continue to 02 Hello World.