XAMPP and WAMP in the LAMP, what's the best?

Question

We have got loads of options for php + MySQL + Apache combo... Which is the best pack among these ?

Lets confine our ideas to WAMP vs XAMPP, is there a better option to go for?

I created an online programming contest web app called CodeFire on XAMPP, later I had to switch to WAMP, where none of the php scripts worked properly... what standard should I follow?

score 35 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 19 '08 at 21:07

35

I like XAMPP, personally. I have an install running on a thumbdrive that I carry around that's pretty much my development environment for LAMP web dev on any machine I happen to be at (I'm mostly on Windows client machines).

Small, fully-functional, and stable - works really well for my needs.

answered Sep 19 '08 at 21:07

cori

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+1. I'm actually running an XAMPP development environment on Windows, with the target production/beta machines running the LAMPP version of XAMPP :-). Works surprisingly well. – Alex Weinstein Sep 21 '08 at 03:59
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I used to love XAMPP (and, to be fair, still do), but their default configs leave something to be desired. I've only found one major problem, that is their PHP config has register_globals set to On, which is one of the biggest security holes known in PHP. Worse yet, their admin app relies on it! – Dan Fego Dec 15 '08 at 10:58
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+1 for this, XAMPP is a very good development environment. Admittedly, it has huge security holes in it, but these can be fixed with a basic knowledge of PHP. – Tom Will Feb 25 '12 at 09:51

score 19 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 15 '08 at 10:29

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I like WAMP the best, real simple interface and I can easily switch between different versions of PHP 5.26/4.44/4.3.9, MySQL 5/4, and Apache 2/1.3

answered Dec 15 '08 at 10:29

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i perfer this over xampp just because the interface is more convenent. also for development Wampserver does not broadcast over the internet be default (easy to turn on) where xampp anyone can access what you are working on through the network. also switching php and apache versions is a breeze – WalterJ89 Mar 08 '10 at 14:14

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 19 '08 at 20:59

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XAMPP is good for development and portability, that's for sure.

LAMP is best for performance and security (and ubiquity).

WAMP...well, that's for if you don't want to learn Linux, I guess.

answered Sep 19 '08 at 20:59

StuffMaster

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score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 19 '08 at 20:59

LAMP seems to be the most common of those options, so on a strictly find solutions to your problems I would recommend LAMP.

It really comes down to whats going to be the best option for you though. If you don't know Linux than maybe running a WAMP setup will make the process easier to maintain. Try and factor in your experiance and the maintenance required on the server into your decision.

Personally I run a LAMP server for my purposes, as I know enough Linux to maintain it and it ended up being the best solution for my purposes.

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 02 '10 at 02:27

I tried XAMPP and gave up...I faced an issue with backslashes(widows uses forward slashes)..due to this none of my scripts could save any files to folders because the path would be like dir1\dir2\folder/image_folder/image.jpg...I tried WAMP it worked like a charm..it threw no errors and saved the image files as intented...so..I guess I will stick to WAMP...I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how the "madslashes" issue is fixed on XAMPP..I googled furiously..without any luck..thanks

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 19 '08 at 21:01

Xampp is a self contained package for developments.

the latter two would be full production stacks installed on your server either gnu/linux or windows server 2k*

so if you want a one program install that can be removed go with xampp for development, otherwise you can fully install eash of them on your system. the latter will also (obviously) produce greater performance.

as far as standards go, lamp is more industry wide, the windows servers tend to run IIS instead of apache, though it doesn't mean they can't. thier are books on php over windows but i think easy of use and wide adaptation is in the lamp camp.

score 3 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 19 '08 at 20:58

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It all depends on what you are comfortable administering. Any of these setups can be stable, robust, and secure if its properly set up.

answered Sep 19 '08 at 20:58

pkaeding

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score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 19 '08 at 21:03

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I've been using WAMP for a while now, and from what I've gathered its pretty reliable. The installation is a breeze, and user interface is pretty friendly.

answered Sep 19 '08 at 21:03

Jose Vega

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score 3 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 15 '10 at 17:16

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http://www.formboss.net/blog/2010/02/hosting-php-linux-vs-windows-benchmarks/

He seemed pretty happy with stock mysql/apache/php

answered Nov 15 '10 at 17:16

adonm

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score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 28 '11 at 02:33

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Using Wamp, the new version has xdebug pre-installed, which is nice for me since the first time I tried to install xdebug, it took me ages <_<

Haven't tried Xampp, but just seeing that it doesn't have xdebug bundled I backed off from trying :P

answered Mar 28 '11 at 02:33

Populus

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score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 25 '10 at 07:27

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For me, it depends on your specialization. They are both works great and reliable.

answered Aug 25 '10 at 07:27

Nathan

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score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Dec 15 '08 at 10:33

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I use WIMP on a project, and it's ok, not anything to write home about:

WIMP: Windows, IIS, MySQL, PHP

answered Dec 15 '08 at 10:33

Christopher Mahan

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IMO, it's perfectly acceptable if you include a helicontech product like isapi-rewrite: http://www.isapirewrite.com/ or their new-ish APE product: http://www.helicontech.com/ape/ – Marcus Pope Apr 22 '14 at 20:58

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Jan 05 '11 at 18:43

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I liked WAMP best until I tried to uninstall it, and realized it left behind a ton of junk, so go with XAMPP.

answered Jan 05 '11 at 18:43

Neil McGuigan

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score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Sep 26 '10 at 08:34

I like xampp lite for a development server. I just take an old pc, re install windows and download and install. Change the Net card to static and turn on Apachie and mysql on startup. They run as services. I set the drive as shared and when I want to use it I copy the files into the htdocs area and turn the browser to that IP.

Very easy.

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered May 14 '09 at 06:22

I use xampp, because it offers easy upgradeability and portability. You can easily upgrade the version wihtout a hassle.

I use xampp's 7zip installer version which is a very nice when it comes to be upgrading your php and phpmyadmin quite frequently in order to fix the bugs that are introduced in previous versions and have new functionality.

XAMPP and WAMP in the LAMP, what's the best?

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