In a new post to his blog today Justin points out a tool you can use - WApache - to turn your PHP script into a stand-alone executable file.

There are a few commercial products out there that allow you to turn your php scripts into an executable. While most of them work well, I have found a way to do it for free, using an open source application. This application is called Wapache (based on the apache web server) and it is open source (distributed under the Apache License 2.0). WApache doesn't convert your script directly into an executable, it runs on the combination of a windows app (which uses an embedded IE control) and a stripped down version of apache.

The tool acts as a wrapper around the script, making it look and feel like a normal executable Windows file. Your PHP scripts stay intact and can be changed at any time without needing to recompile or anything. There's also some configuration options included that let you customize the interface.

From the JSLabs blog today, there's a mini-tutorial on how to convert your PHP files into executable files (.exe) to be used on Windows.

There are a few commercial products out there that allow you to turn your php scripts into an executable. While most of them work well, I have found a way to do it for free, using an open source application. This application is called Wapache (based on the apache web server) and it is open source (distributed under the Apache License 2.0).

WApache does the trick by combining your script with stripped down versions of an IE browser and an Apache web server. This is compiled together and pushed out the other end as an executable file. Instructions are included in the post to get you started making the .exe files quickly.

Ben Ramsey has posted his look at a free tool that works with the Eclipse editor - the Zend Executable Debugger plug-in for Eclipse.

The Zend Executable Debugger plug-in is part of the all-in-one PDT package, but if you want to install it on your own'"since it's possible to use this debugger without the PDT and with PHPEclipse, for example'"then you'll need to install it using the Eclipse Update Manager (the easier way).

He mentions how to install the tool (including the information for the Update Manager) and attaches some screenshots of the tool in action - first of the installer and second of the plugin in action.

UPDATE: Ben added a note about XDebug support for the PDT software into the post as well:

Patrick Mueller has just posted some links to information about XDebug support for PDT. Now, for those not wishing to use the Zend Debugger, you may now use XDebug.

On PHPBuilder.com today, there's a note that was submitted by Anders Hammar about a handy new tool to convert PHP applications into Windows executable files - Bambalam.

Bambalam PHP EXE Compiler/Embedder is a free command line tool to convert PHP applications to standalone Windows .exe applications. The exe files produced are totally standalone, no need for php dlls etc. The php code is encoded using the Turck MMCache Encode library so it's a good solution if you want to distribute your application while protecting your source code.

The converter is also suitable for producing .exe files for windowed PHP applications (created using for example the WinBinder library, or with PHP-GTK). It's also good for making stand-alone PHP Socket servers/clients (the php_sockets extension is included in the static build).

You can find out more about this free tool from their website or just download a copy and start checking it out.