What are the best practices for managing PHP extensions and ensuring they are properly loaded by Apache in a Windows environment?

To manage PHP extensions and ensure they are properly loaded by Apache in a Windows environment, the best practice is to edit the php.ini file to specify the extensions to be loaded. You can also use the PHP extension_dir directive to specify the directory where PHP extensions are located. Additionally, make sure that the necessary DLL files for the extensions are present in the specified directory.

extension=php_extension_name.dll
extension_dir = "C:/path/to/php/ext"