What to install

This post describes the common software tools that I recommend for developing with Yii.

1. You need PHP, a web server such as Apache, and likely a database server such as MySql. You can install them individually, or use a package such as WAMP or XAMPP. I recommend XAMPP, because you can't uninstall WAMP.

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

2. You'll want an IDE, such as Netbeans or Eclipse PDT. I prefer Netbeans as it's simpler and faster.

http://netbeans.org/features/php/

[You'll need Java installed to run the above IDEs]

3. You'll want the xdebug debugger for PHP:

http://www.xdebug.org/

4. If your apps will send emails, then I'd recommend PHPMailer:

http://phpmailer.worxware.com/

5. If you are planning on doing test-driven development (and you should), then you'll want PHPUnit and Selenium.

http://www.phpunit.de/manual/current/en/index.html

http://seleniumhq.org/

6. And obviously the Yii framework!

If you're on Windows, then you may need 7-zip to open the Yii .gz installer file.

http://www.7-zip.org/

You should also read this, to setup code completion in Netbeans:

http://www.yiiframework.com/wiki/83/netbeans-ide-and-yii-projects/