A crash course shouldn't waste time on complex server configuration. The best PDFs recommend XAMPP, WAMP, or MAMP. They provide a 5-minute setup guide to get phpinfo() running. A good PDF will also explain the difference between the built-in PHP server ( php -S localhost:8000 ) and Apache.

If a only teaches procedural code, it is outdated. Modern PHP is Object-Oriented. Your guide must introduce: