One of the contributing factors to web development’s rapid growth has been the application of its free to use tools. These tools are; Linux, MySQL, PHP and Apache, together they are commonly referred to as LAMP. The availability of these tools has meant that people all over the world have been able to set up websites, and with it the popularity of web development has soared. The aforementioned tools are discussed in much detail below;
Linux
Linus is a multilingual web development tool that is mainly targeted at servers, desktops and embedded devices. This computer operating system is open source based and can be useful in a number of computer hardware like; tablet computers, desktops, mainframe computers, handsets and routers. This rocket-fast operating system has the ability to power the ten quickest supercomputers in the world. The use of this facility in commercial and home computers has been rising and various enterprises and governments are developing their own Linux systems.
Apache
This tool was authored by one, Robert McCool and his Apache Software Foundation developers and was initially released in the market in 1995. This web development was pivotal in the initial development of World Wide Web. Just before the turn of the century (1999), it became the first server to top the one hundred million website mark. It was also the first real answer and alternative to the dominance of Netscape Communications Corporations. Today it can stand toe to toe with any of its rivals in terms of performance and functionality. This tool can be used in various operating systems like; GNU, Novell NetWare, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Microsoft Windows and eComStation. It is estimated that Apache serves 63 per cent of all the websites in the world, and when you count the busiest websites it performs even better at 66 per cent.
MySQL
MySQL is a subsidiary of Oracle and was officially released in to the market in May of 1995 and is available in English. B y definition this tool is a relational database system and powers a server that provides much user access to numerous databases. Even though this tool -just like the others- is free, you can opt for its paid-for editions, which as you would expect offer better performance and functions. Some of the applications that use this tool are;
- Joomla
- MyBB
- WordPress
- Drupal
- phpBB
MySQL is a central cog in LAMP application software and is the preferred web development tool in some of the most popular websites like Facebook, Google, Nokia.com, Flickr and YouTube.
PHP
This tool made its bow in 1995 and is owned by the PHP group. It is a general-usage server and its intended result is to develop dynamic and impressive web pages. This tool is inbuilt in well over twenty million web sites in the world as well as in over one million web servers. This free software is marketed under the PHP license.