Don't use CGI
You have two options when installing PHP: use it as a CGI executable, or use it as an Apache/ISAPI module. Although there are advantages in favour of both options, running PHP as a module is overwhelmingly favourable when it comes to performance, as all of PHP and its extension modules reside in memory as opposed to being loaded with every request.
From a purely performance-motivated point of view you would be crazy to run PHP as a CGI executable.
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Jump to: Performance Optimising your code Write your code sensibly Use your tools wisely Avoid functions for maximum performance Use the Zend Optimizer Use a PHP code cache Read the manual carefully Get your loops right first Pre-increment where possible Don't think that using references will lower your RAM usage Be wary of garbage collection, part 1 Be wary of garbage collection, part 2 Listen to all errors, big and small Keep up to date Cache array data Compress your output Don't use CGI Don't use dl() Debug your code Cache your pages Use persistent connections Take advantage of new features Compile right Ignore the myths Avoid mod_access if you can Don't fret about Apache 2.0 Optimising your SQL Prioritise your data Optimise your tables Select as little data as possible Use shorter queries where possible Use the EXPLAIN statement Change your hardware Choose your data types carefully Size vs. Speed Declare fields NOT NULL Load data intelligently Consider splitting off variable-length fields Be wary of locks Consider switching OS Spot slow queries Perform joins carefully Index your data Make sure your indexes are being used Normalisation Upgrade MySQL Increase your buffers Keep tabs on your server Lock your tables when appropriate Don't rely on automatic type conversion Benchmark, benchmark, benchmark! Know MySQL's strengths Server PHP Accelerators Caching PHP PHP as a CGI or a module? Size of scripts Summary Exercises Further reading Next chapter
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