PEAR for PHP

[Anon]

What is this and why would I need it installed if I am developing PHP and MYSQL application. I am new to this and have been goign through a book to guide me and this is not something I can find in the book. I just tried to install an application needing this module but my hosting service VERIO is not supporting. So I think?

I thank you in advance for your comments
jen

[Anon]

PEAR stands for PHP Extension and Application Repository.

This means that those Extensios are free to use and to distribute like CPAN modules for Perl. But, those extensions are developed and packed under rules set by the PEAR consortium (or whatever). This way, installation is less effort, learning the packages is less effort, and standardizing is a great gain.

Using those PEAR things is up to you. Some of them are very helpfull though. Like the PEAR:😃B module. This one is similar like the very popular DBI for Perl.

With this package it doesn't matter if you develop code for MySQL or PostgreSQL or Oracle. Since the module figures it out by itself. So transporting one class or application from one server to the other is a lot easier to manage. Instead of changing al the connects, queries etc. to a specific type of DB, it is managed by this package.

Read more on this feature of the PEAR:😃B on

http://www.devshed.com/Server_Side/PHP/DBAbstraction

Good luck, and I recommend to start using this kind of packages, it helps you to keep a standard for the future (see CPAN).

Aschwin