Professional LAMP: Linux®, Apache, MySQL®, and PHP5 Web Development

8.4. Exploring PECL

While PECL isn't as extensive as PEAR, it's not to say it is without merit. Documentation and breadth of function of available packages is more limited than with PEAR. Many of the PECL packages are still in beta phase and are experimental; thus using these packages may take some getting used to. However, there are some very helpful, if not specific, packages held within PECL walls, and we'll take a quick look at some of the more popular packages to give you an idea of what they hold. If you would like a more detailed explanation of a PECL package, we have done that with PDFLib in Chapter 10.

8.4.1. Fileinfo

Fileinfo PECL package is one of the top downloads at the PECL site, and it's just downright useful. With this extension, you can glean all sorts of information about a file, such as MIME types. This package can be downloaded at http://pecl.php.net/Fileinfo.

Documentation on this package is somewhat limited, as is the case with many of the PECL packages; however, there is a wiki document that briefly touches on this package at the PHP Wiki (http://www.wiki.cc/php/Fileinfo).

8.4.2. PDO

At the time of this writing, PDO is still in beta phase and considered to be experimental, but it holds great promise for the future of PHP regarding database interaction. The purpose of this package is to interface with Data Objects and allow you to change database types at the drop of a hat. Instead of having to code using database-specific functions (mysql_connect or