We recommend using the C implementation if you can, but PHP may be needed in
some cases (such as when limited by security or technical constraints).
The PHP implementation is automatically installed like any other
googleapis/gax-php dependencies in
Composer, but it is used at runtime only if the C implementation is not
installed and configured.
C implementation
To install and configure the Protobuf PHP extension:
Run sudo pecl install protobuf from the command line.
Add an extension=protobuf.so line to the php.ini file.
PHP implementation
Make sure the C implementation is disabled and all the dependencies of
the googleapis/gax-php library are
installed:
Comment out any extension=protobuf.so line in php.ini.
Run composer install from the directory that contains the
composer.json file of the project being worked on. The composer.json
should specify google-ads-php or any project that requires it as a
dependence.
Determine which implementation is being used
Run php -i | grep protobuf:
If not empty, you're using the C implementation.
Otherwise, you're not using the C implementation and the Google Ads API
PHP library will rely on the PHP implementation (if installed correctly
using Composer).