What's the difference between the php7.0-sqlite and php-sqlite3 packages?

Question

When you use apt-get, what's the difference between the php7.0-sqlite package and the php-sqlite3 package?

I'm trying to get a php PDO package

Answer 1

php7.0-sqlite3 is the package that provides the PHP plugins for SQLite3 Database support.

php-sqlite3 is a metapackage that pulls in php7.0-sqlite3 (in Xenial). Part of the migration was that it is easier to just define a dependency on php-sqlite3 or similar so if we ever go to php7.1 or such, and a package just depends on php-sqlite3 it automatically pulls in the correct version. This also makes it easier on setup scripts and users to just install php-sqlite3 instead of having to memorize what PHP numeric version is in use (or worse, hardcode the version to use).