PHP6 and MySQL® 6 Bible

Appendix E. PEAR

The PHP Extension and Application Repository (PEAR) is a broad effort with many component parts, collectively aimed at expanding the usefulness and reliability of the PHP language. PEAR has been removed from PHP6 but was previously (and likely will continue to be) an important part of many developed applications for years to come. For this reason, while we didn't include coverage of PEAR in the main section of the book we're including it as an appendix in the hope that you'll get some value out of the material.

As of late, there has been discussion about how to get PEAR back into the main PHP source, so it may be back between the time we write this and the time you read this! That is all the more reason to include some coverage of PEAR.

Since PEAR isn't included in PHP6, some of the installation steps may no longer be applicable to a PHP6 system. You can find the latest installation instructions at http://pear.php.net.

With PEAR, developers should be able to write more capable software more quickly and with greater reliability.

The most useful and best-known element of PEAR, its package management system, attempts to reduce the frequency with which PHP developers reinvent the wheel. Its main part is an online database of code modules, accessible to anyone via an automated process, that give the PHP language special capabilities. PEAR modules, for example, enable PHP programmers to access LDAP directories and open files in the Ogg Vorbis format without writing utility ...