The structure of a module is a lot simpler than that of a component. It is a code fragment that is integrated and interpreted by another part of the program. Due to the scripting language PHP's capabilities, modules can collect data from all kinds of sources. The sources could be on your own website (the last five articles) or a weather, stock quotation, Amazon, or eBay web service.

A module contains business logic and a user interface. It does not have its own administration section as most components do. Modules can, however, be controlled by parameters. Your website's template addresses the various modules directly and integrates them.

Since modules are self-contained programs, they can handle a dedicated task in this template domain, such as displaying a banner. A template does nothing but group several different modules in a visually appealing manner. The module structure allows you to conveniently extend your website in a simple way.

Since you can use templates both for...