Version issues

[borris83]

Hi, Is there any way to run an another instance of PHP with an older version?

I have got lot of source codes and most of them seem to be creted for older version. I want to debug those codes and make changes so that It will work in newer versions... Before that I want to make sure that those source code actually work without any problem in older version...

So, I have two questions
1) Can i have more than 1 version of PHP installed in the same machine, if yes, then how to do that
2)Where can I get older versions of php, starting from php 4.0

[Twey]

Yes; precise installation details depend on your system;
php.net (http://www.php.net/) is a good place to start.

[CrazyChop]

What version are you talking about? PHP 5 supports most PHP 4 features and most code that work in PHP 4 would work in PHP 5 unless you have error reporting turned to the maximum. There is, IMHO, no need to install an older version to debug those code. If it doesn't work in PHP 5, chances are it won't work in PHP 4. If it works in PHP 4, chances are that it will work in PHP 5.

For PHP 3 and below, yah, but I rather you get those coding working in PHP 5 because even if you get them working in PHP 3, chances are that it won't work in PHP 5.

The biggest thing you have to watch out for is register_globals for older source code. I don't recall having to recode much to get my code up to the latest versions. PHP is quite backward friendly.