QB stands for Quick Binary. It's a PHP extension designed to enable faster
handling of binary data. It takes a function written in PHP and translate it
for a specialized virtual machine. The use of static type information leads
significantly higher performance than under PHP regular dynamic type system.
A PHP+QB function can run anywhere from five to twenty times faster than
regular PHP code. For even higher level of performance, one can compile PHP+QB
functions to native code (on supported platforms).

QB performs code translation on a per-function basis. It does not affect in
anyway code not specially marked. Interaction between PHP+QB functions and
regular PHP code is basically seamless. A key design objective of QB is to
let developers harness greater processing power than what baseline PHP offers
without the risk involved in adopting a brand new platform.

WWW: http://pecl.php.net/package/qb/