The modules written in these chapters are all based on PrestaShop 1.6, so you will require what's listed on the PrestaShop standard requirements list, which is available at http://doc.prestashop.com/display/PS16/What+you+need+to+get+started. The requirements are as follows:
PHP v5.2 or higher
MySQL v5.0 or later
It would be better if you work with Unix hosting, Apache Web Server 1.3 or later, with at least 64 MB of RAM dedicated to PHP