PEAR (PHP Extension and Application Repository) is a framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components.
PEAR packages are bundles of files written in PHP that can be embedded into PHP applications. PEAR packages might be distributed as .phar, .tar or .zip archives.
When a PHP application is developed they enable different functionalities. Using such packages considerably facilitates the developers’ work. There are two possible approaches when adding a specific functionality: either the whole code is written from scratch or the developer uses a ready PEAR package.