WampDeveloper – My Choice for web development platform

WampDeveloper – My Choice for web development platform

This isn’t post for ordinary people, so if you do not know what is virtual host or how to set it up please skip this article and don’t waste your time.

But if you wish to save your time you will use some of this tools.

I don’t want to insult anybody (especially my working coleagues) but as web developer you MUST work on Windows platform, sorry.
Or you can use your favorite linux distro and waste your time on terminal installing, configuring and playing with your time.

Find a web developer on any linux or MacOS which will do certain assignments/tasks faster than I can and I will give you my monthly wage 😀
For example, how much time you will spend to create virtual host on local machine with https ?

Why Windows?
-first thing: Internet Explorer and IE tester,
-second thing: you can choose which software you will use and for some of them you just don’t have replacement on other platforms.

I was jumping around from many IDEs and latest NetBeans has some cool features like integration with Zend Tool for creating Zend projects which will spare your time a lot if you know what you are doing, but you cannot compare 2 different folders or complete Magento projects (only 2 files) and you don’t have Eclipse’s “Link with Editor” which will open exact file in the project tree you have searched among 10000 Magento’s files.
No matter what, Eclipse is the “One Ring To Rule Them All”. Its boring and ugly but with few little tweaks..dude it works. Alt+Space and you are code generator.

Other software I use is WinScp for SFTP/FTP because you can connect on remote server trough SSH tunnel and you can add any custom command you need to execute on remote server.
For MySQL I use Webyog community edition.

In title of this article I have mentioned guys from Devside and software they have developed and I must admit that they did a hell of a job, after all that’s the main theme of this article.
New edition is WampDeveloper (not WampServer, it’s for noobs) former WebDevelopmentSuite.
With few clicks you have working environment, everything is on one place and you don’t need to install each (MySQL, PHP or phpmyadmin) software separated. No need to modify virtual host configuration file or adding virtual hosts in hosts file.

Before WampDeveloper I used ZendServer but no matter which version I have used you had to modify apache’s or php’s configuration files to install Magento on local environment.
With WampDeveloper no needs for this additional actions.
Install WampDeveloper, create https virtual host with one click, unpack Magento and go.

This is trial version (Release Type: Public Beta) I have tested but 125.95$ is not much for this powerful tool.
Community edition is coming and you don’t have to pay anything!
Here are few screenshots:



Try it and you’ll love it.

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17 comments

  1. Keeping aside all arguments about OSes.. this topic being about wamp developer pro.. It is the most stable server setup for windows with no doubt… XAMPP and WAMP server sucks on windows 8.. apache hangs due to port clashes.. But wampdeveloper is stable even in windows 8…

  2. Nice article. I didn’t know about IE Tester. I used to use Eclipse, but got out of the habit and tend to work in Dreamweaver. Eclipse had some nice plugins for debugging PHP and JavaScript. I never got spent the time to get the Eclipse plugin directory synchronizer working, but it can’t be slower than Dreamweaver. I normally set up my own environments because then I know how they are set up. I did work with WampDeveloper a little. I will probably spend the money because of its ability to switch versions of server software and install webapps with a click of a button. However, the vhosts is the part I like the least about it. I can set up a vhost in about 2 minutes manually, and it won’t conflict with the name on the web. For another server, I either use the the real one, or a FreeBSD virtual machine on my laptop. Webyog sounds pretty cool. I never used it. We’ve gotten rid of our Linux servers and went to FreeBSD a few years ago, but the stack is the same. I agree for connectivity, tools and an efficient GUI, nothing beats Windows. It helps when you have a commercial OS that has 90% of the market, but the fact that people will pay money for it when there are free alternatives means it is all-around more cost efficient than free, just like WampDeveloper. Same with OpenOffice vs MS Office. For general business, I get inquiries about Linux for a business server. The fact is, it is far too expensive to own, and doesn’t have the features they need. OTOH, nothing beats AMP for making money on the web. Your in your face tactic in your article garnered the activity you were looking for, and I learned a few valuable things reading it.

  3. “”These are not “special tools” and downloading an app and clicking setup-exe is not “making you jump through hoops.”””
    I would think that having to download a pack of source, compile it, and then have to type commands to get it all to run right would be more “jumping” through hoops than simply installing a program and then having a nice GUI. But of course all you command line guys are stuck on using commands for everything instead of whats easier.

  4. Why there is fanatic war wherever comes choices between these OS, we chines we don’t use both you where hardly listing, I even imagine some sort of “machine I used” good tool isn’t branding matter or manufacture, I think it is what you are or have been custom to, it doesn’t matter how much it worth!! mostly matter how much It is productive specifically to you, Am glad to be where I am.. to use what I use, the tools outline above works fore me for past 3 years (version 2.00) when it was free, till now is useful imagine!!!

  5. I downlaoded WampDeveloper just to try and test out a website i was working on, but once i started using it, I was amazed at the functionality yet simplicity of the software. I now have a running website with forums. Having add on software included was very helpful. It allowed me to easily install my forums without monkeying around on the internet trying to find the right software and right versions. Another amazing feature is that it does automatic updates, but not just the program itself. It also does it for all the components as well. (Apache, PHP, MySQL, etc.)
    All in all, a greatly useful program!

  6. Hi all, just to say I for one loved this post. I like having a development/webhosting envoironment to play locally but sometimes come unstuck configuring apache/mysql/php/cgi etc as I am not that technical but obviously no noob either.

    Within a few minutes i had local magento sites running very easily. I can see the comments about the advanced features of running linux such as grep etc, i guess this software simply isnt for you guys as i guess you have linux installed ALL OVER THE PLACE 🙂 Wish i had too but for now this wampdeveloper just installed and worked for what it claims to do. Actually, i think they have done a good job of the ui and its features too.

    If you want an apache, mysql, php and cgi setup to play with directly in your normal windows working envoironment then this is for you.

    Just my tuppenth worth.

  7. A lot of people seem to be offended by one line of text on one page on one website on the internet?!

    If you want to use Linux, use Linux. If you want to use Windows, use Windows.

    A good developer is not made by his OS choice. The OS only makes zealots.

    I use the tools that I’m most productive with. And I value my time. And most of my end-users are on Windows. I use Windows. I have not had a problem with Windows since 2000. Please stop comparing Windows 95 to modern day Linux distributions.

    Linux, on the other hand, does not offer me anything but cheap hosting.

    I’ve used both Linux and Windows and for serious development Windows wins hands down for me.

    P.S.,

    If you want SSH to log into a Linux box, download Putty. If you want sftp, use Putty’s sftp client. If you need grep, sed, awk, get the Windows builds of them from gnuwin32. These are not “special tools” and downloading an app and clicking setup-exe is not “making you jump through hoops.”

  8. I personally develop on OS X at home AND work. I bet I can do some tasks a LOT faster than someone developing on Windows.

    Here are the tools I use all the time:
    MySQL: Sequel Pro
    Browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Lynx. IE with VMWare Fusion
    Terminal: for a lot of things
    IDE: I don’t use an IDE. I use TextMate or vim.

    XAMPP is much better than MAMP for many reasons – the biggest reason is that XAMPP is a lot more up to date.

    “You don’t need to install special SSH tools on either OS X or Linux – unlike WIndows these are serious operating systems for capable people.” – mdenis
    I agree with this. With Windows you have to jump through many hoops just to do simple tasks like SCP and SSH.

  9. 1. On OS X install MAMP. Since we are talking about OS X, that means download it and put it in the applications directory. You are ready for web development.
    2. On Linux, install php and mysql using the package manager. This normally requires one command. You are ready for web development.

    You don’t need to install special SSH tools on either OS X or Linux – unlike WIndows these are serious operating systems for capable people.

    I am not sure what your argument is regarding Eclipse. It’s boring but does the job so chose something else?

    ” … as a web developer you MUST work on Windows platform, sorry” – really? We must choose a specific operating system for a medium that has nothing to do with operating systems? And do web development on an OS made by the same people who continue to create some of the worst web software imaginable?

    I have to say this post is very disappointing given the quality I have come to expect from inchoo 🙁

  10. hey : didn’t mean to start a war 🙂 i use them all and i don’t compile my osx or ubuntu that i use for development

    I use zend ce server ( it runs on every platform)
    I run: “sm.sh magentoversion” from command line (i could add a desktop shortcut i guess) to spawn a clean magento instance without hassling with virtualhosts
    I run “sm.sh allversions” to spawn all current magento versions to my testserver
    I run “sm.sh magentoversion path” to reset a specific spawn and so on
    I run cap deploy from project root to upload it to clients server (i can make a eclipse shortcut for that i guess)
    I make a automator task for that if client uses ftp server

    to port it all to windows i just sync my dev root with my laptop and have it all on windows.

    Sure you can do all that vice versa , replacing a string in all files or searching through all magento code-base for function is a bit slow through gui I guess

  11. you should develop in an environment CLOSEST to your deployment environment, and especially when Magento is only supported on linux.

  12. a2enmod ssl
    ln -s /etc/apache2/sites-available/default-ssl /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default-ssl
    apache2ctl restart

    How fast can you copy&paste this?

    It’s more a matter of habit then “my car is faster then yours”, if you’re not used on working on linux and think that you need to recompile kernel to start server of course you’ll need hours for this, same thing goes vice versa – how long does it take to find the appropriate program for MS Windows, install it and learn how to use it 😉

  13. “as web developer you MUST work on Windows platform, sorry.” Thanks, but I’m not interested in being told what OS I “must” use – I’ll decide that for myself. 🙂 (Btw, it’s not Windows.)

  14. @Mladen

    How much time do you need to create virtual host on local environment with SSL?

  15. @Anton

    I was talking about the speed of development, setting up working environment and running Magento installation.
    So, when you have created your virtual host, when you have configured your working environment, when you have run 10 commands in your terminal (I believe you have transparency enabled and it looks cool),in that time I have finished my custom Magento Admin module which rewrites Magento’s Sales_Order_Grid extended with custom model (if you know what I’m talking about).
    Time equals money.

    Well, I guess yours home made compiled linux kernel rocks.

  16. Interesting post, I must say. But can you please tell me as a back end developer, what are the real advantages of Windows over Linux?

    WAMPP on windows = LAMPP on linux

    The only serious advantage of Windows over Linux is Photoshop. And there’s Photoshop for Mac. But you are a back end developer right?

    To conclude: I do agree that windows have multiple advantages over others, but on the other hand, other platforms have certain advantages over Windows.

  17. I have read almost all your blog posts and enjoyed it quit much but for this story I say bullshit, have a linux or osx and dual screen setup and a windows7 on a virtual machine or vice versa.

    How do you “grep” in windows? How do you “sed” in windows , how do you ssh in windows (ok putty is a solution), how do you autodeploy on windows and so on. Shell scripting in windows is a big pile of inconvenience. And i bet your hosting server runs linux

    Of course you must take care of windows experience but as a developer i see no reason that sitting behind an actual windows box is somehow mandatory. Everybody makes their own choices i guess.

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