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Lamp (software Bundle)






The Acronym LAMP refers to a Solution Stack of software programs, commonly Open Source programs, used together to run dynamic Web Site s or Server s. The original expansion is as follows:

The combination of these technologies is used primarily to define a Web Server infrastructure, define a Programming Paradigm of developing software, and establish a Software Distribution package. More recently, the P has come to refer frequently to Perl or Python as alternate programming languages. See '' Variants '', below.

Though the originators of these Open Source programs did not design them all to work specifically with each other, the combination has become popular because of its low acquisition cost and because of the ubiquity of its components (which come bundled with most current Linux Distribution s). When used in combination they represent a Solution Stack of technologies that support Application Server s. Other such stacks include unified application development environments such as Apple Computer 's WebObjects , Java / Java EE , Grails , and Microsoft 's .NET architecture.

The scripting component of the LAMP stack has its origins in the CGI Web interfaces that became popular in the early 1990s. This technology allows the user of a Web Browser to execute a program on the web server, and to thereby receive dynamic as well as static content. Programmers used Scripting Language s with these programs because of their ability to manipulate text streams easily and efficiently, even when they originate from disparate sources. For this reason system designers often referred to such scripting systems as Glue Language s.

'' in 1998 (12/98, page 230). The article aimed to show that a bundle of free software could provide a viable alternative to commercial packages. Knowing about the IT-world's love of acronyms, Kunze came up with ''LAMP'' as a marketing-like term to increase the popularity of free software. O'Reilly and MySQL AB have made the term popular among English-speakers. Indeed, MySQL AB has since based some of its marketing efforts on the popularity of the LAMP stack.


SOFTWARE


Linux

See Also: Linux


Linux (also known as '''GNU/Linux''') is a Unix-like computer Operating System .


Apache HTTP Server

See Also: Apache HTTP Server


Apache HTTP Server is a '' reference platform against which other web servers are designed and judged.


MySQL

See Also: MySQL


MySQL is a Multithread ed, Multi-user , SQL Database Management System ( DBMS ) with more than ten million installations Robin Schumacher & Arjen Lentz Dispelling the Myths.


PHP

See Also: PHP


PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a Reflective Programming Language originally designed for producing Dynamic Web Page s. PHP is used mainly in Server-side Application Software , but can be used from a Command Line Interface or in standalone Graphical Applications .


VARIANTS

Sometimes Perl and Python are used in place of PHP and are often referred to as LAMP systems as well. One review of the platform goes so far as to say "Let the P stand for PHP, Perl, Python, and Ruby."1 Some developers prefer to use the M to mean Mod Perl or Mod Python and the P to mean PostgreSQL in effect reversing the M and the P in functionality, which can cause some confusion.

Another variant designates the M to be Middleware (including Ruby , Perl, Python ''etc.'') and the P to be PostgreSQL. Although not generally accepted, this definition could be seen as a token of the continuing evolution in the Free Software Community while redefining its objectives and boundaries.


Operating system

See Also: List of operating systems
Comparison of operating systems





Web server

See Also: Comparison of web servers


A non-free, common alternative for Apache HTTP Server is Microsoft Internet Information Services or IIS. Because this can only be run on Microsoft software, a Microsoft Windows operating system must be used instead of Linux.



Databases

See Also: List of relational database management systems
Comparison of relational database management systems




Programming language

See Also: Comparison of programming languages





Other variations


Some employ the term ''LAMP'' generically to describe such alternative systems rather than make a new acronym, using it to denote the contrast between such systems and a unified web application development environment.


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