Run PHP/MySQL on Mac OS X with MAMP

Have you ever wanted to run PHP and MySQL on your Mac? For ages I have been using my remote server for testing/building WordPress themes but that can be a major headache always having to upload each edit. Thankfully, the other day I stumbled upon MAMP from living-e AG and have been using it ever since.

Unlike other solutions that require you to install PHP/MySql through the terminal, MAMP (Macintosh, Apache, Mysql and PHP) installs just like any other app and can be up and running in seconds. It even includes PHPmyAdmin for managing your databases and the server can be stopped quickly at anytime from the app or a dashboard widget.

I have used Marc Liyanage’s PHP Apache Module in the past for simple PHP sites but I could never get MySQL to install properly along side it.

MAMP makes the process so ridiculously simple I cant believe I was working the other way.

Since I was so impressed with MAMP I thought Id search for a comparable solution for Rails. The only one I could find was Locomotive, whcih I have yet to run but it looks impressive. Has anyone tried this yet?