What’s a L.A.M.P. Application? Or What’s the LAMP Stack?
A L.A.M.P. application is a program that requires four major supporting components to work. The term LAMP is an acronym that refers to the following:
- Linux
- Apache
- MySQL
- PHP
This is known as the "LAMP stack" over time, the LAMP stack has sprouted many variations of it.
With the explosion of web programming languages, sometimes the acronym may fit other definitions.
Theoretically speaking, I like the definition from Wikipedia where they refer to it as an archetype. The model of the LAMP stack is clear and easy to replicate and communicate.
For example:
If you have the technical ability or hard-set requirement, Linux can be replaced with Windows. Apache can be replaced with IIS, or Tomcat, or NGINX or Litespeed. MySQL can be replaced with Postgress or Microsoft SQL Server. Some applications may use Python instead of PHP.
So while the L.A.M.P. stack usually refers to the classic Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, in some cases it is used only to quickly present the basic requirements that a specific program may need.
In more specific discussions, there are other acronyms that have established themselves as well, like WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP), MAMP (Mac OS, Apache, MySQL, PHP), or LEMP and a few other ones.
Examples of LAMP applications:
- WordPress
- PHPBB
- Joomla
- Vanilla forums
- Easy!Appointments
- Hundreds more...
A big portion of the applications you'll find available in your cPanel or Softaculous installation scripts are LAMP applications.
If you need to install a LAMP application, I suggest you consider using Inmotion Hosting to host it for you. They're affordable, 100% USA based, small business and if you use my link I'll get a small commission and you'll save up to 50% from your invoice.
