APC, which stands for Alternative PHP Cache, is a framework used for caching the compiled source code of a given script app, that could boost a database-driven site several times. Any time a PHP web page is accessed, the script pulls the website content that should be displayed from a database, parses and compiles the program code, and then the result is displayed to the website visitor. While this is necessary for websites with routinely changing content, it is a total waste of processing time and system resources for a website that does not change, like an informational portal that displays the exact same content at all times. When the webpages for such a website are compiled, APC caches them and delivers them every time a user loads them. Since this saves the time to obtain content from the database and to parse and compile the code, the Internet site will load considerably quicker. APC is very useful in particular for scripts with large source code.
