Which php.ini to use?

Question

PHP

Hello. Installed XAMPP, as IDE - PhpStorm. Installed a separate interpreter in C:\php.
1. In PhpStorm I include php.exe located in C:\php or C:\xampp\php ? I think in C:\php.
2. Do I understand correctly that php.ini in C:\xampp\php is used by the Apache server, and when developing in PhpStorm, the php.ini settings in C:\php are used? What happens if the settings are different or is this normal?

Answer 1

First, why install a separate interpreter if XAMPP comes out of the box?
Secondly, I advise you to demolish xampp and manually raise Apache, MySQL, PHP. The internet is full of manuals. But you will begin to slowly understand how these web servers of yours work there. You will learn how to add new php modules yourself, configure xdebug, opcache, ... After that, you will switch to vagrant or docker.