What are the best practices for setting up a local server environment for PHP development?

Setting up a local server environment for PHP development is essential for testing and debugging code before deploying it to a live server. One of the best practices is to use a software stack like XAMPP or WAMP that includes Apache, MySQL, and PHP to easily set up a local server environment on your computer.

// Example code snippet for setting up a local server environment using XAMPP

// 1. Download and install XAMPP from https://www.apachefriends.org/index.html
// 2. Start the Apache and MySQL services in XAMPP control panel
// 3. Place your PHP files in the 'htdocs' directory inside the XAMPP installation folder
// 4. Access your PHP files in a web browser using http://localhost/yourfile.php