Dynamic Shared Objects (DSO)
Many of Apache's features are provided using modules. A module is a piece of code that can or cannot be made part of the system and which provides specific features. For example, mod_perl provides a fast way to load Perl scripts, whereas mod_mime_magic allows Apache to determine a file's type by its contents.
Apache's features are provided by modules for several reasons:
Loading unneeded features wastes resources, particularly memory.
If you don't load a feature, bugs in it can never cause you problems.
Breaking features into modules generally leads to better design.
Modules can be written by groups other than Apache and then integrated by the user.
Before Apache 1.3, modules had to be chosen at compile time. They were ...
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