Using PHP with MySQL

There is a TV commercial that shows what would happen to the world if we didn't have plastic. In the commercial objects like telephones, chairs and computers disappear before our eyes. The objective is to make us appreciate what we would happen to our infrastructure without plastic. A similar analogy can be drawn to the need for databases on the world wide web. Without databases many of the web sites we rely on would quickly cease to function. It is not an exageration to suggest that databases form the heart of the web and the internet as we know it. Without some way to store and retrieve data the usefulness of the internet would be a greatly reduced.

One of the many advantages of PHP is the seemless way in which it integrates with the MySQL database. In this chapter we will take a close look at how to access information stored in a MySQL database from a PHP script and present that data to a user's web browser.

Before beginning it is important to note that MySQL is an advanced Relatation Database Management System (RDCMS), and as such, may be more sophisticated than is needed for every data storage need. In the next chapter (PHP and SQLite) we will look at a more lightweight solution that may meet less demanding needs.

This chapter assumes that you have MySQL installed and running on your server. There are many resources on the internet that can help you achieve this. The first place to start is the MySQL documentation.

Getting Started with MySQL

The first task is to create a MySQL user account we can use for the purposes of this chapter. To set up as user account you will need to log into MySql using an account that has suitable privilages. If you are unsure about which user account to use speak to your system administrator or refer to theMySQL documentation.