How to run PHP on Visual Studio Code

Published September 29, 2022 · Updated March 19, 2024

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is a popular code editor that supports various programming languages, including PHP. When developing PHP applications, it’s essential to have a local server environment like XAMPP to run and test your code. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through the process of setting up VS Code to run PHP programs using XAMPP as the local server. (Note: XAMPP installation steps are not covered in this tutorial.)

Prerequisites:

Visual Studio Code (Download and install from the official website: https://code.visualstudio.com/)
XAMPP (Ensure it’s installed and running on your system)

Step 1:

Open Visual Studio Code:

Launch Visual Studio Code on your computer. If you haven’t already installed it, download and install it from the official website.

Step 2:

Create a PHP File:

In VS Code, create a new PHP file by clicking on File > New File. Save the file with a .php extension, for example, hello.php.

Step 3:

Write PHP Code:

Inside your PHP file, write some simple PHP code to test. For example:

<?php
echo "Hello, world!";
?>

Step 4:

Save the PHP File:

Save your PHP file by clicking on File > Save or using the shortcut Ctrl + S.

Step 5:

Open XAMPP Control Panel:

Open the XAMPP Control Panel and start the Apache server. This will allow XAMPP to serve your PHP files locally.

Step 6:

Open Browser and Navigate to Localhost:

Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/. This will display the XAMPP dashboard.

Step 7:

Place PHP File in XAMPP Directory:

Move or copy your PHP file (hello.php) to the htdocs directory within your XAMPP installation folder. This is where XAMPP serves files from.

Step 8:

Run PHP Program:

In VS Code, open the integrated terminal by clicking on View > Terminal. Navigate to your XAMPP htdocs directory using the terminal.

cd /path/to/xampp/htdocs

Replace /path/to/xampp/htdocs with the actual path to your XAMPP htdocs directory.

Step 9:

Verify PHP Execution:

Type php hello.php in the terminal and press Enter to execute your PHP program. You should see the output (Hello, world!) displayed in the terminal.

Step 10:

View Output in Browser:

Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost/hello.php. You should see the output of your PHP program displayed in the browser.

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Conclusion: Congratulations! You’ve successfully set up Visual Studio Code to run PHP programs using XAMPP as the local server. With this setup, you can develop and test PHP applications locally before deploying them to a live server environment. Happy coding!

Feel free to explore more PHP development features and extensions available in Visual Studio Code to enhance your development workflow further.