.htaccess & Apache configuration (httpd.conf) on MAMP

I just spent the entire day figuring out why I kept getting a 404 error on my URL's after installing the Slim framework and running it on my localhost. I didn't find any informative answers on the forum that really helped me, so I figured I'd share what I learnt :)

The Problem-

I set up a site with the Slim framework using Composer and create an index.php with the following example code form slimframework.com:

<?php
$app = new \Slim\Slim();
$app->get('/hello/:name', function ($name) {
    echo "Hello, $name";
});
$app->run();

Then I try to access the page using http://localhost/hello/bob. I get back a 404 Page Not Found page. I was able to get to access the page using http://localhost/index.php/hello/bob.

The Solution-

First in your Apache configuration file (httpd.conf) (mine was in C:/MAMP/conf) set your document root to your project file that contains the index.php and .htaccess files

Then looking at /vendor/slim/.htaccess (included w/ Composer Slim install) and the URL Rewriting section of the Slim framework documentation. I added a copy of the /vendor/slim/.htaccess file to the same folder as my index.php file. The contents of the file are:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [QSA,L] 

Then accessed the page using http://localhost/hello/bob.

I went through a ton of resources online but I still don't really understand why it couldn't be as simple Hampton's Video and would greatly appreciate someone telling me what I just did.

Sources-

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9747640/slim-framework-always-return-404-error https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34844292/mamp-slim-php-still-have-404-error