“PHP 5.0 includes numerous enhancements that further extend the
functionality of the language. For example, XML support has been
‘completely redone’ with extensions now focused around the libxml2
library.“SimpleXML, a new XML extension enhancement, enables easier
access and manipulation of XML components as PHP objects. Where
there’s XML, Web services are usually found too. In that regard,
PHP 5 includes a built-in SOAP extension that permits Web Services
interoperability.“MySQL database users, known as prolific users of PHP, now get a
new extension that supports MySQL 4.1, as well as some of its new
features. For the first time, PHP now bundles with the SQLite
database as well…”