What are the benefits of using XAMPP for PHP development and how can it be installed?

XAMPP is a popular tool for PHP development as it provides a complete web server solution that includes Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl. This makes it easy to set up a local development environment for testing PHP code without the need to configure each component separately. XAMPP can be easily installed on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems by downloading the appropriate installer from the official website and following the installation instructions. To install XAMPP on a Windows system, you can follow these steps: 1. Download the XAMPP installer from the official website (https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html). 2. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to install XAMPP. 3. Once the installation is complete, launch the XAMPP Control Panel to start the Apache and MySQL servers. 4. You can now access your local web server by entering "http://localhost" in your web browser. Note: Make sure to configure the necessary settings in XAMPP, such as setting up virtual hosts or enabling PHP extensions, to suit your development needs.