What is your development environment?

[jatar_k]

In a recent, slightly off topic, discussion with ergophobe and mincklerstraat we were mentiong dev environments and what cpu's we use. It started to make me wonder what the most common setups for our run of the mill programmers here. So I figured it would be interesting to see what the norm is.

I have a work and home setup, so I will list both.

Home -recently purchased since I burned my last board

winxp sp2 on an AMD 2.08 GHz, with 512 MB RAM
running apache 1.3.33, php 5.0.2 and mysql 4.1, manually installed and configured, this would also be my desktop

work - no desktop environments, servers only for dev

Sunfire V120, Solaris 8 , UltraSparc IIi 550MHz, 512 MB RAM, SCSI hard disks
Apache 1.3.33, Oracle 10g with RAC, mysql 4.1, php 4.3.9, all manually installed and configured

we also have many machines, half FreeBSD (mysql), half Solaris (oracle) but all run the same paache/php as above.

the two obviously are very different. I put 'manually installed' because I also wonder how many people use installations like apachefriends, firepages or easyphp.

<NOTE>if you read this and aren't php centric, post anyway, I am interested in everyone's dev environments

[encyclo]

Some nice toys there, jatar_k! Let's just say that I work at a different level... ;)

I work from home, and have two machines: the first is also my desktop machine, a 500Mhz Celeron with 128Mb RAM running Mandrake 9.1, Apache 2.0.47, MySQL 3.23 and PHP 4.3.1, all unpatched (but behind a firewall!). My secondary machine is a 133Mhz Pentium 1 with 72Mb RAM, currently running Slackware 10, Apache 1.3.31 and PHP 4.3.7 - a straight vanilla install off the Slackware CD. Everything I do is developed on these two machines.

On the live servers, the company I use runs Red Hat exclusively, mostly RH Enterprise Linux 3 (with one old server running Red Hat 7.3), all with the latest Apache, MySQL and PHP 4, all manually installed/compiled. Some clients have their own hosting setups, including OpenBSD and Solaris. My only rule is that I only support *nix environments, but apart from that, anything goes.

[baze22]

Just got a new dev machine here at home: 3.6g pentium, php 4.3.4, mysql 3.23.49, apache 1.3.26. This is for dev & desktop.

Hosted servers run: php 4.3.6, mysql 4.0.x , apache 1.3.33.

baze

[jatar_k]

did you use a package to install it baze? or manually

[baze22]

binaries were precomiled, but were installed individually. Setting up this new machine I tried the triad set up for convenience, but I didn't like the way i kind of took over and did it's own thing. So I removed it, grabbed the individual binaries and did it "My Way" :)

baze

[bubone2]

Hey fellas,

I have a home setup and work.

home --> custom-built, 2.6 GHz P4, WinXP Pro, 512 MB DDR, 1024 x 768 resolution

work --> I work for a small school district, so ... yeah
600 MHz G3 iBook, Mac OS X, 256 MB, 1024 x 768 resolution

I use my home computer for everything (dev, word processing, gaming ... mostly gaming). :) My work computer is not incredibly powerful, but gets the job done. I particularly like the UNIX backend.

For browsers, I use Maxthon, FireFox, IE, Mac IE (which is often sometimes different believe or not). Every once in awhile I might check against Opera and Safari (but don't like those browsers).

Josh

[Salsa]

Current main dev machine: W2K SP4 P4 2.4 512; Apache 1.3.12, PHP 4.3.1, MySQL 4.0.20

I also run FreeBSD 4.8 locally because that's what I currently use on my remote servers.

I haven't upgraded my W2K machine as often as I might have--because I'm lazy, because I've made cross-platform, jEdit, my code editor of choice, and because I'm planning to soon take a stab at using FreeBSD for primary development as well as production.

Local Win installations are all binary. With FreeBSD, I generally try to install from source, but it's a hodgepodge. For example, installing Imagick's binary on Windows is a cinch, but after trying too long to effectively install it from source on FreeBSD, I finally resorted to the ports collection.

Finally, while this may not be strictly environment specific, my most worthwhile development investment ever was a 22" 2048x1536 LaCie monitor + BlueEye calibration.

[jatar_k]

here's a funny fact re: home dev environments

I only installed apache/php/mysql on my desktop for the first time last week. Until now I have always done all my dev on my various servers.

[ergophobe]

I actually own a laptop that's more powerful than my desktop, has a more recent OS (XP sp2) and I have a dual-cpu machine that I could set up that is currently sitting in the closet. Basically, I stick with what I have because it's set up the way I want it and, aside from the fact that the OS is Win and my sites run on Lin, it's got pretty much the same setup in terms of server software. My computer, which is starting to show its age in terms of numbers, still does great for me except perhaps for some graphics apps.

- AMD Athlon 750 MHz w/ 640MB of PC133 mem and total of 140GB of disk space

- 19" no-name monitor that I like better than either the 19" or 21" Sonys that are sitting in the closet (literally no name - I can't find it written on it anywhere, but it's got the sharpest text I've seen).

-Win2K Pro

- natural keyboard (greatest thing ever). Itsave sme form mnay tpyos.

-I just realized that my host finally upgraded both servers I'm using mysql 4.0.20 so I should upgrade that. Otherwise, both machines and my dev station still on Apache 1.3.31 and PHP 4.3.8.

If I were going to upgrade anything right now, it would be the monitor to a compact, energy-efficent LCD (actually, I would rather upgrade my internet connection, but I can't afford that and it's a long story).

[RonPK]

I work at home, typing stuff on a MS natural keyboard (which is great indeed) into an AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz / 512 MB machine. The OS is the much dreaded Windows ME - as long as I don't run to many Office apps, it doesn't crash. Output is displayed on a 15" LCD screen with 1024 x 768. A larger monitor is on my wish list.

I used the Firepages phpdev package to install PHP 4.2.3, Apache 1.3.27 and MySQL 4.x; I've upgraded MySQL to 4.0.16 some time ago, using the binary package from MySQL.

The machine is part of a small network, hidden (I hope) behind firewalls in both the modem and the router. I hardly ever use the other machines; one is mainly for the daily backup (cough).

My production web server, which I also use for testing, is a Cobalt RaQ4, running (I think) a 20th century version of Apache on a perhaps even older version of Linux. But all of Sun's patches have been applied, and some others as well, so I have reason to believe it's quite safe. The server has PHP 4.3.8 and MySQL 4.0.14 installed from source. CPU speed is somewhere around 400 MHz, and it's got 512 MB RAM, and RAID-1 disk mirroring.

Last but not least I own a Apple Powerbook, running Mac OS X with it's built in FreeBSD-style Darwin OS (and Apache 1.3.28, PHP 4.3.2, MySQL 4.0.20). I use that for presentations (and for fun here at home; it lives on the kitchen table). It's connected to the network by a wireless station (Airport Extreme).

So my primary dev version of PHP is 4.2.3, which was released back in September 2002. I have no plans to upgrade it, as I notice that many of my clients' providers still use a comparable version.

Maybe one of the major drawbacks of working on Windows is that mail() doesn't really do much (I'm too lazy to install a local SMTP server). On the other hand, it forces me to implement proper error handling ;)

[henry0]

From my home office
Principally two machines
One is a Micron with server case Pent3 @450 2 HDDs 256 RAM
Runs exclusively RH9 and I use it with its bundled original PHP, MySQL and Apache
Don’t remember the ref but its a couple years old – use Quanta to code- works very well with a decent PHP color highlighting

By the way I regret that Micron is not building any longer laptops and PCs
I consider them as the best build (before working for myself I worked in a 100 Micron environment and very seldom did we had problems!)

Primary machine Homebuilt Pent 4 at 2 gigs 2 HHDs 526 RAM server case and enough fans to cool down a “Boing” -reason I do not use AC-.
Dual boot XP pro and Red Hat 9
But almost never do I jump to RH
Why: I can directly access 2 different Linux setup and run two different Apache servers one is 1.3 something with everything from the same date
The other one is as per my tutorial in the library (Hand installed) and sport the latest updated Apache 2, PHP4 and MySQL

I should mention that with the first Apache I run PHP5 and the second use PHP4.3 latest before PHP5
So I have a full palette to work with
On that machine I code by using UE.

Regards

Henry

[mincklerstraat]

I run primarily a 2.4G P4 on an Asus P4P800 Deluxe with 1G of Twinmos RAM on it and a Sapphire graphics card. Probably the best thing about this setup is the Zalman Alcu fan/heatsink - biggo fan turning slowly keeps the processor nice and cool but very very quiet, and isn't real expensive - case is an Antec Sonata with a 12cm fan turning slowly and quietly but still pushing a lot of air, has a very quiet power supply. All components selected because they're passively cooled, no fans. Having a computer that's nearly silent is important to me, I get irritated quickly by noise and would guess that a constant high-pitch whine would contribute a lot to work stress - the lack of noise was the very best thing about upgrading my hardware. Nice, solid-feeling Cherry black keyboard (azerty, this is Belgium, we need é and ç); Logitech MX500 mouse is very nice; Proview 18" TFT is a cheapo, but quite nice, set always at 1270x1024. If you sit for hours a day in front of a computer, it's good to have quality basic stuff you love. Didn't cost that much either, I put it together myself but probably should have had the component store's tech guy do it for 50€, but then you have to be careful with transportation because of the big heavy Zalman heatsink.

Software is Debian Sid running the pekwm (like fluxbox but simpler look & feel) windows manager, coding either in Kate or Quanta Plus, usually Kate these days since Quanta Plus gets real slow on big projects in the version I have and can't follow my typing (last version was faster). PHP and mysql very recent, kept up-to-date with apt-get - both just installed using apt-get. For testing on Windows it's XP-Pro SP-1 with self-installed PHP that's fairly recent, 4.3.5 I think, and a 4 series mysql - Jedit for editing, since it's the same in Linux and this keeps me from having Windows fits.

These days I use Kate with a very dark background (like my desktop/workspace) and fairly light letters (no #fff or such unmuted colors), have read that this is easier on the eyes and though it's tough getting used to, I think it does keep my eyes from getting tired.

I'm very, very happy with Debian sid, but somehow have ended up installing stuff that makes this machine take forever to boot (6 minutes), biggie here is NIS services starting (I think I got that when I installed the second network card, which I haven't yet configured properly on the Debian partition). I'm no linux genious, so I'll probably end up saving the stuff I have in my home and www directories and try installing Ubuntu or Yoper clean, more or less just selecting the stuff I need, and hoping that does the trick.

I have a cheapo Compaq 1200 (AMD) laptop that I'm going to try linucizing soon, will probably put apachefriends' XAMP on the XP Home partition. I've heard great things about SUSE's latest release for laptops with ACPI and wireless but am not thrilled with needing to pay for it if I'm not sure it will do the trick.

Encyclo: you're a very good reason for me to keep my old PII. I'll probably let a friend going to uni use it for a while, then reclaim it for testserver use.

Ergphobe: I've heard people in hardware forum saying rave things about dual-CPU systems as desktops - very 'fluid' I think is how they describe the speed/stability. You tried doing this with the contents of your magical hardware closet, or considered it?

I haven't read anything here about what debuggers people use, I know ergophobe uses xdebug. Xdebug is a bit of a pain if you don't install from source on Linux since it requires 'php-ize' - on Windows there's a module for it. Might ask this in a new thread later.

[Adrian2k4]

PC:
AMD AthlonXP 2600+ (1,91 GHz)
Asus A7N8X-E Board
1 GB PC-3200 DDR-SDRAM
320 GB Diskspace
Asus ATI Radeon 9600 XT 256 MB
2 BenQ FP937s 19" TFT's
WindowsXP Pro SP2
XAMPP 1.4.6 (Apache/2.0.50 (Win32) mod_ssl/2.0.50 OpenSSL/0.9.7c PHP/5.0.1)

Using the ZEND Development Environment for PHP.
Mostly have the ZDE on the first monitor and the PHP manual and/or the browser output of the script on the second monitor... 2 monitors are so useful :D

Local testing server:
Compaq PII 450MHz, 256 MB RAM, 20GB HD, running SUSe Linux, Apache2