pear

PEAR (PHP Extension and Application Repository) is a framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components. It provides a standard packaging format, a centralized repository, and a command-line tool to install, upgrade, and manage packages.

Packages are distributed as PEAR packages with a package.xml manifest describing metadata, dependencies, and installation instructions. Each package resides in a repository known as a channel; the primary public channel is pear.php.net, and developers can host their own channels.

PEAR packages typically consist of PHP source files, documentation, tests, and an optional binary or extension. The PEAR Installer handles dependency resolution, autoloading conventions, and installation paths; the 'pear' command-line tool interacts with channels, downloads packages, and registers them in the local PHP environment.

Historically, PEAR was introduced in the early 2000s as part of a community effort to standardize PHP components. It played a central role in distributing libraries for logging, mail, database access, HTTP requests, and more, and helped establish common packaging practices.

In the 2010s, Composer and Packagist emerged as the dominant PHP package manager, reducing PEAR's prominence. Today PEAR remains available, but development activity has slowed, and many projects have migrated to Composer-based workflows. Packages vary in maintenance and licensing.