I wasn’t aware about cURL until I stumbled with a problem regarding this thing. I was using a certain library code for our web project when an error regarding cURL popped into my screen. So what is cURL anyway?! cURL is a command line tool for transferring files with URL syntax. The main purpose and use for cURL is to automate unattended file transfers or sequences of operations. For example, it is a good tool for simulating a user's actions at a web browser. It is also used for http authentication and SSL communication.

I am not going to help you delve on how to use the cURL since I myself have to do my own homework on this. But if in case you are also modifying someone else’s library and encountered same error while testing your project in XAMPP or debugging it at NuSPHERE debugger here’s how to do it.

Using CURL in XAMPP
It’s quite simple - uncomment extension=php_curl.dll in your php.ini file, then restart Apache. You might wonder which php.ini file is going to modify. It might be confusing because there are multiple of them and you might do all the trouble in modifying all of them. Well, for those looking for a straightforward solution, ignore everything but the /apache/bin/php.ini file, regardless of which PHP version you’re currently using.

And you are off to go!

If you are debugging the web project using NuSPHERE here’s how to enable the cURL:

1. On the menu click on Tools -> Settings.

2.  Click on Tools on the popup window and you will see the path to php.ini at the right side. Click on Edit button. Then uncomment extension=php_curl.dll to enable the cURL.

The steps written above are very straightforward so I am confident you will get it right. With just a few steps you can continue again your web development.