What is this?
Composer is the dependency manager for PHP: it helps you declare, manage, and install the libraries your PHP projects depend on.
Composer is the dependency manager for PHP: it helps you declare, manage, and install the libraries your PHP projects depend on.Is this a framework or a library?Neither — it is a command-line tool you install once and run inside any PHP project to handle that project's dependencies. Composer itself is written in PHP.
Neither — it is a command-line tool you install once and run inside any PHP project to handle that project's dependencies. Composer itself is written in PHP.How do I get it on my machine?Download and install Composer by following the official instructions at getcomposer.org; after that you run it from the command line in your project.
Download and install Composer by following the official instructions at getcomposer.org; after that you run it from the command line in your project.Besides PHP itself, what else has to be on my machine?For most users only two binary dependencies are essential: unzip (or 7z/7zz) and git, which Composer uses to fetch and unpack packages. If PHP's ext-zip extension is available, git alone is enough — though the README calls that setup not recommended.
For most users only two binary dependencies are essential: unzip (or 7z/7zz) and git, which Composer uses to fetch and unpack packages. If PHP's ext-zip extension is available, git alone is enough — though the README calls that setup not recommended.Will it work on my server with an older PHP version?Yes, within limits: the latest release needs PHP 7.2.5 or above, but the Composer 2.2 LTS line still supports PHP 5.3.2 through 8.1, and the installer or self-update command automatically selects the right Composer version for your PHP.
Yes, within limits: the latest release needs PHP 7.2.5 or above, but the Composer 2.2 LTS line still supports PHP 5.3.2 through 8.1, and the installer or self-update command automatically selects the right Composer version for your PHP.Is Composer free to use?Yes — it is open source under the MIT License, free for personal and commercial use.
Yes — it is open source under the MIT License, free for personal and commercial use.Why does Composer need Git to work?Composer fetches many packages from their source repositories and unpacks archives, so git plus unzip (or 7z) cover most needs — the README names those two as the only essential binary dependencies for the majority of users. Mercurial, Subversion, Fossil and Perforce support is only required for projects hosted on those systems.
Composer fetches many packages from their source repositories and unpacks archives, so git plus unzip (or 7z) cover most needs — the README names those two as the only essential binary dependencies for the majority of users. Mercurial, Subversion, Fossil and Perforce support is only required for projects hosted on those systems.Is there a way to use private packages, or is everything public?Everything on Packagist.org is public, but the README points to Private Packagist as a separate option for hosting private packages.
Everything on Packagist.org is public, but the README points to Private Packagist as a separate option for hosting private packages.Anything interesting about how Composer works under the hood?The dependency Solver at its core started out as a PHP port of openSUSE's Libzypp satsolver, as the acknowledgments note.
The dependency Solver at its core started out as a PHP port of openSUSE's Libzypp satsolver, as the acknowledgments note.Which topics is it in?packages, composer, dependencies, package-management, dependency-manager, package-manager, php, cli-tool, git, utility, command-line, command-line-tool
packages, composer, dependencies, package-management, dependency-manager, package-manager, php, cli-tool, git, utility, command-line, command-line-tool