What is LAMP?

LAMP stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl/PHP/Python- a killer combination of operating system, web server, database and scripting engines that power many Web 2.0 and e-commerce sites. Many Web 2.0 companies, such as YouTube, Flickr, Digg, PriceGrabber and deli.cio.us, have alighted on LAMP low-cost and open source architecture. LAMP provides the building blocks needed for database driven websites, and as many Internet companies have demonstrated, it enables rapid deployment of web applications at low cost. If you need to test business propositions in a way that gets them to market fast, with a proof of concept, the LAMP stack lets you do just that. Developing new systems using LAMP cuts your risk by letting you do it on the cheap. What's more it can grow as you do, because it's based on industry standards. The low cost of development around the LAMP stack also stems from the wider labour base. Open source products are more readily available to people wanting to learn how to implement and program them, meaning that skills are easier to find. According to research firm Netcraft, PHP is the most popular language for LAMP development and currently accounts for more than 40 percent of the overall Web scripting language market.