Why is XAMPP recommended over installing PHP separately on a Windows system for development purposes?

XAMPP is recommended over installing PHP separately on a Windows system for development purposes because XAMPP is a pre-configured package that includes PHP, Apache, MySQL, and other necessary components for web development. This makes it easier to set up a local development environment without having to manually configure each component separately. Additionally, XAMPP provides a control panel for managing the services and simplifies the process of starting and stopping the server.

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