WAMP is sometimes used as an abbreviated name for the software stack Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP. It is derived from LAMP which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. As the name implies, while LAMP is used on Linux servers, WAMP is used on Windows servers. Because WordPress isn’t usually installed on Windows Servers, WAMP has become popular among developers as a method of installing WordPress on their personal computers.
The “A” in WAMP stands for Apache. Apache is server software that is used to serve webpages. Whenever someone types in your WordPress website’s URL, Apache is the software that “serves” your WordPress site.
The “M” in WAMP stands for MySQL. MySQL is a database management system. It’s job in the software stack is to store all of your website’s content, user profiles, comments, etc.
The “P” in WAMP stands for PHP. PHP is the programming language that WordPress is written in. It is also the piece that holds the entire software stack together. It runs as a process in Apache and communicates with the MySQL database to dynamically build your webpages.
WAMP software stack can be downloaded from wampserver project’s download page. For Microsoft windows users, it comes in an easy installation package with a control panel. Launching the WAMP manager control panel starts Apache, PHP and MySQL web services on the local computer. WAMP and other software stacks with similar names and features are a good way to develop websites on a local machine without transferring the files to a live website. Theme designers and developers prefer to have this because it speeds up their development time.
Beginners often use this for learning and testing purposes as well.
It is important to note that if you install WordPress locally on your computer using WAMP, then you are the only person who can see that site. If you want to have a live WordPress site available to the public, then you need to have a Domain and WordPress Web hosting. We recommend that you follow this guide on how to install WordPress.
This post was originally published in the wpbeginner glossary.
