If you're new to PHP or don't have it installed on your machine yet, don't worry - we'll fix that right now. Whether you're planning to follow along with this course or getting ready for Laravel development, setting up your environment has never been easier. The Laravel docs list the different options: https://laravel.com/docs/12.x/installation#installing-php

The One-Command Wonder

It is a single command that installs everything you need. It downloads PHP, Composer (PHP's package manager), and the Laravel installer as binaries, making them globally accessible on your machine. The best part? It doesn't interfere with your existing development setup - it simply adds the binaries you need. After running the command, just type php -v in your terminal to verify the installation, and you're ready to go!

Note: If you're already using Homebrew for your development tools, you can also use it to install PHP.

Laravel Herd - The GUI Alternative

If you prefer a more visual approach, Laravel Herd has got you covered. It's a sleek Mac app that handles all the same installations - PHP, Composer, and the Laravel installer - through a user-friendly interface. It sits quietly in your menu bar, giving you easy access to manage your development environment on Mac or Windows. While the free version provides everything you need for this course, there's also Herd Pro which adds advanced debugging and testing features for those who want to take their development workflow to the next level.

Just pick the option that feels right for you - both will have you writing PHP code in no time.

Following Along With The Examples

Throughout this course, many examples will be shown in an online PHP editor. This makes it easy to follow along and try out code yourself, even without having PHP installed on your machine. However, it's still recommended to install PHP locally, as we'll need it for creating our first PHP application at the end of the course.