MySQL using XAMPP

After some research I found a solution that worked for me.

1. Download XAMPP
2. Start mySQL in XAMPP, it should be on port 3306
3. In Visual Studio Code download and enable the extension "PHP Server" by baprifa (Ignore this step if you already have, or if are using a different php server. This is the one I happen to be using)
4. In Visual Studio Code download and enable the extension "MySQL - MySQL management tool" by Jun Han
5. Reload Visual Studio Code to ensure it's activated.
6. In the Visual Studio Code Explorer you will now notice a MYSQL drop down tab at the very bottom. There should be a localhost database in there. If it's not appearing or shows an error, open XAMPP again to make sure you started mySQL
7. You should now be up and running. To upload the project to phpMyAdmin in XAMPP, open the database.sql file that was downloaded from treehouse for the project. Right click anywhere on the document, and select option that says "Run MySQL Query".
8. You can verify you are connected by opening the XAMPP control panel, Start the Apache Server, Open Web Browser and type localhost
9. It will bring you to XAMPP page hosted locally on your computer. From there click phpMyAdmin link. On the left hand side verify that your database was uploaded.

NOTE: in this exercise the teacher is using the SQLite (PDO) driver. Instead, you will need to use the MySQL (PDO) driver.

To test that everything is working, in the inc folder, create a connection.php file. This is the code I used to test:

<?php

$db = 'mysql:host=localhost;port=3306;dbname=database';
$username = 'root';
$password = '';

$dbh = new PDO($db, $username, $password);

$query = "SELECT * FROM people";

$result = $dbh->query($query);

foreach($result as $item) {
    echo "[" . $item['people_id'] . "] " . $item['fullname'] . "<BR>";
}

After saving it, right click and choose PHP Server: Serve Project to view.

NOTE: If both the Apache Server in XAMPP, and PHP Server by baprifa in VS Code are running, the PHP Server will be the one that works. To use phpMyAdmin you must stop the PHP Server.... at least that's how it is on my system.

I hope this info is helpful. I am new to this, so if there is anyone with more experience who would like to add or correct anything I may have typed, please feel free to comment.