Please do not misunderstand PEAR to be the fruit with green skin and white pulp. Yes, you can eat it while working on any PHP application development project and boost your application development if you really get some energy from it. However here we are referring to PEAR as a code library which can be used by PHP developers to fasten the process of PHP application development.
Efficacious PHP application development is PHP developer's race against time and he/she uses different tools and techniques to speed up the development. PEAR stands for PHP Extension and Application Repository (PEAR), an intelligent person can easily guess what it is from its full form. You guessed it correct it is a repository or a warehouse where a PHP developer can find various PHP development extensions and applications.
It is based on a concept very much similar to Perl's CPAN and includes pre written classes related to almost all standard functions which can be performed using the platform. It also includes functionality for different features like error handling, mail and database. Pre written basic functionalities in PEAR help developers to focus more on writing new functionalities.
Basics of PEAR for PHP application development: PEAR developers had two main mottos in mind 1) allow developers to share PHP code and 2) promote use of reusable code when they thought of the pulpit. It is an ongoing development project and so allows any PHP developer to submit their codes for inclusion into the library bundled with PHP. To ensure their code is accepted PHP developers should adhere to the coding guidelines related to readability and syntax conventions as well as consist of PHP extensions written in C. Functions Available for PHP application developmentThree main components of PEAR are PEAR Packages, PEAR Core Components and PECL Packages. All these include PEAR_Error, logging, classes of PEAR along with database, e-mailing functions and HTTP. Functionality for networking, authentication and file system features can be found in PEAR packages. It also provides tool for working with HTML and XML templates. Extensions to PHP which are written in C but are not as per the coding guidelines are included in PECL packages.
Where to find and How to Use PEAR Since PEAR is bundled with PHP distribution it automatically installs when PHP is installed for PHP application development. Latest version of PEAR can be downloaded with a CVS client. Developers can simply use the require_once() to call for the required functions as a PHP developer would be doing when calling any class written by you. After this you need to set expected variables $headers, $recipients and $body which are mandatory to perform $params and all other PEAR Mail functions.
Why Go for PEAR for PHP application development?There are many reasons why one should use PHP for PHP application development. One of the most important features of PEAR is that it is easy to deploy and requires no additional programming. While deploying PHP application without additional coding is possible using PHP's native functionality PEAR enables immediate error checking and improved portability.
Another advantage of PEAR for PHP application development is that it considerably reduces the time required for application enhancement. Obviously because it includes pre written codes which can be called for anytime when required.
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