apache – What is the difference between PHP module and PHP extension?
apache – What is the difference between PHP module and PHP extension?
PHP modules are extensions mostly written in C language. They can be compiled with PHP to enable static loading (as part of the binary file) or dynamic loading (with the php.ini directive: extension=modulename.so)
There are different types of modules – core extensions, bundled extensions that are still part of the PHP package and fully external extensions. The last ones are not part of the PHP core and not included in the package.
There is a repository for PHP extensions called PECL (PHP Extension Community Library). Other PHP extensions exist, as they are different from PECL, but PECL is the official repository for the most popular and widely used PHP extensions.