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What is Laragon

What is Laragon​

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Laragon is a powerful local development environment tool designed for developers, especially for Web development. It can help developers build and manage various services (such as Apache, Nginx, MySQL, PHP, Redis, Node.js, etc.) on local machines, supports multiple development languages, and greatly simplifies the configuration and management of the development environment. Laragon's goal is to provide developers with a convenient and efficient environment to support the rapid construction of development projects.

Compared with traditional development environments (such as XAMPP), Laragon has the following characteristics:

  1. Lightweight: Laragon's installation package is relatively small and occupies less memory after installation.

  2. Easy to use: Laragon provides an intuitive user interface that can start services with one click without complex configuration.

  3. Modular: Laragon allows developers to install different services according to their needs, such as Nginx, Node.js, MySQL, etc., and can flexibly choose the environment components they need.

  4. Customization support: You can easily switch development frameworks, such as switching PHP versions, or even enable different versions for a project.

Installation and use of Laragon:​

  1. Download and install Laragon. The latest version can be found in the official website link.

  2. After installation, open Laragon. The interface is very simple and provides a start button to start services such as Apache or Nginx, MySQL, etc.

  3. Using its built-in shortcuts, you can easily create new development projects such as Laravel, WordPress, Drupal, etc.

Differences between Laragon and XAMPP​

Although Laragon and XAMPP are both tools that provide local server environments for developers, they have some key differences:

  1. Installation and setup:

  • Laragon: The installation process is simple, automatically configures the required services, supports one-click startup, and can easily switch between various service versions according to needs.

  • XAMPP: XAMPP is also easy to install, but you may need to manually configure some services, and some features (such as multi-version switching) require additional settings.

  1. Service and framework support:
  • Laragon: Provides more flexibility, supports Apache, Nginx, MySQL, Redis, Node.js, etc., and supports multiple development frameworks (such as Laravel, WordPress, Node.js).
  • XAMPP: Mainly focuses on Apache, MySQL and PHP. Although it can support more functions through extensions, the default support is relatively fixed.
  1. Performance:
  • Laragon: Because Laragon focuses on lightweight and efficiency, its startup speed and service memory are relatively small, and its performance is good.
  • XAMPP: XAMPP is relatively heavy, and it takes up more resources when starting the service. It is suitable for developers who need a stable environment, but it may have a certain impact on devices with limited resources.
  1. User interface:
  • Laragon: Provides a simple and intuitive GUI (graphical user interface), users can manage services and projects very conveniently, and supports one-click start and stop of services.
  • XAMPP: It also provides a graphical interface, but the interface is relatively complex, with more functions and not as intuitive as Laragon.
  1. Customization and extension:
  • Laragon: Highly customizable, can switch development frameworks and versions freely, and supports direct management of various development tools from the UI.
  • XAMPP: Less customization, extension functions need to be configured manually, and not as flexible as Laragon.
  1. Supported operating systems:
  • Laragon: Mainly supports Windows operating system.
  • XAMPP: Supports Windows, Linux and macOS, so it is more cross-platform.

Summary:​

  • If you are a Windows user and need a lightweight and easy-to-customize development environment, Laragon is a better choice. It can help you quickly build a development environment and supports multiple frameworks and services, which is suitable for flexible and changeable development needs.
  • If you want to develop in a cross-platform development environment, or you need a more traditional and stable development tool, XAMPP will be a good choice, especially for common technology stacks such as PHP and MySQL.

In short, Laragon is more suitable for developers who need a fast and flexible development environment, while XAMPP is suitable for developers who prefer a stable and mature environment.

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