The Evolution of My Web Development Environment

The Early Days: Manual Setup

When I first dipped my toes into Web Development, I embraced the challenge of manually installing and configuring PHP, Apache, and MySQL on my Windows machine. It was a steep learning curve, but it worked, and I felt accomplished.

The VM Era: Convenience and Performance

As time passed, I discovered the power of virtual machines (VMs). I started with Windows Virtual PC, later adopting user-friendly solutions like XAMPP and WampServer. This setup served me well, and I eventually upgraded to VMWare for better virtualization.

The Performance Dilemma

However, the arrival of Windows 10 and VMWare 14-15 brought an unexpected challenge: a significant drop in performance. Simple tasks that once took milliseconds now lagged for 5-8 seconds. Switching to VirtualBox offered some improvement, but it never matched the speed I remembered from less powerful machines.

Frustrated, I spent countless hours attempting to tweak PHP, Apache, and MySQL settings, all to no avail. I tried creating fresh Windows 7, 10 & 11 machines, but the performance issues persisted in all cases, eating into my daily productivity and patience.
 

The Linux Revelation

Finally, after much deliberation, I made the leap to a Linux machine with LAMPP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Pearl – Linux’s version of XAMPP) & VSCodium. The results were simply astounding:

• Lightning-fast performance, even on an HDD (compared to my previous SSD setup on Windows)
• Which in turn significantly improved my overall development experience
• A renewed sense of efficiency in my workflow

I will flag one drawback however, Linux does not have an SSMS version (one tool I actually like from Microsoft), so supporting something like SQL Server or Azure SQL Databases is more challenging, not impossible, but challenging.  For instance, one option is to install/use Azure Data Studio or DBeaver.

As I was asked about my setup in a comment, I am using an old discarded machine whose specs include:

• Intel i5
• 8Gb RAM
• 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD

As for Web Development software, it includes things like:

• lampp
• VSCodium
• FileZilla
• DBeaver
• Composer

A Word to the Wise

For anyone serious about Web Development, whether you’re just starting or already in the field, I can’t stress this enough: Consider switching to Linux for your development environment. The performance gains are substantial, and the overall experience is much smoother.

Things to Keep in Mind

• There’s a learning curve, particularly with file/folder permissions
• Once configured correctly, the speed and efficiency are unmatched
• The initial setup time is well worth the long-term benefits

In conclusion, if you find yourself struggling with performance issues in your Windows-based Web Development environment, don’t waste time like I did. Make the switch to Linux – you won’t regret it!