What best practices should be followed when troubleshooting PHP extension loading errors, such as "PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library './php_mysql.dll'"?

When troubleshooting PHP extension loading errors like "PHP Startup: Unable to load dynamic library './php_mysql.dll'", the first step is to ensure that the extension file exists in the correct directory and is properly configured in the php.ini file. Check the extension_dir setting in php.ini to make sure it points to the correct directory where the extension files are located. Additionally, make sure that the extension file is compatible with your PHP version.

; Check the extension_dir setting in php.ini
extension_dir = "ext"

; Make sure the extension file is properly configured
extension=php_mysql.dll