Posted by Jochem Maas on 09/19/05 16:31

Dave Gutteridge wrote:
> PHP General List,
>
> First, let me say that while I have been scripting with PHP and MySQL
> for my web sites for a few years, I have never configured or installed
> either PHP or MySQL, so I should be considered a newbie for installation
> issues.
>
>
> The situation:
>
> I am running Linux on my home computer. The specific distribution is
> CentOS 4.1. My computer is a pentium 3 with 512 MB Ram.
>
> On the web hosting service where my web sites are hosted, they have the
> following versions of PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin:
>
> PHP Version 4.3.8
> MySQL 4.1.3-beta-standard
> phpMyAdmin 2.5.7-pl1
>
> What I would like to do is install versions of these applications on my
> machine that will be compatible with my server so that I can develop and
> test web sites on my home machine which will hopefully work on my host
> server.
>
> I know that the current latest versions of these applications are as
> follows:
>
> PHP 4.4.0

do you 'abuse' references? if not then you should have no problem.
.... you may have code that breaks on 4.4 due to fixes made to the core engine of php...
e.g:

$var = array_pop( explode('-', '1-2-3-4-5') );

... is bad code (read the manual page for array_pop very carefully) and would work
in older versions but the engine has been tightened up to disallow such fauxpas.

> MySQL 4.1.14

unless you are using very new features of mySQL I doubt you will have
compatibility problems (although be ware of the difference between the mysql
extension and it's replacement mysqli)

> phpMyAdmin 2.6.4

wouldn't worry about this at all.one version will have a few more/nicer features.
not a big deal :-)

>
> I've already spoken to my web host and they intend to upgrade to the new
> versions as soon as they build a compatible interface for them with
> their administrator control panel interface.

don't hold your breath for that :-)

>
>
> The Questions:
>
> If I install the latest versions locally, will they be backwards
> compatible enough with the versions on my host server?

mostly yes, some stuff will break. it depends on what your code actually does.

>
> Would it be easy enough to install the versions that my host has, and
> then upgrade later?

the release archive has what you need:
http://nl2.php.net/releases.php

>
> Any advice would be much appreciated.

....hth.
if you get stuck with a incompatibility problem with your home machine
and hosting machine, and no one else can help ... call the 'A'team
(er ... I mean mail this list and see if the regulards** can help :-))


rgds,
Jochem


** I hereby put forth the motion to include the word 'regulard' into the
english language ... stemming from 'regular retard' , invented in the spirit
of total bastardization of every language through the power of
internet acronymization ;-)

>
> Dave
>
>

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