“MySQL and PHP have developed a special sort of relationship
over the past few years, perhaps due in large part to the fact that
they are both freely available for download. The increased
popularity of this dynamic duo, coupled with boundless enthusiasm
from core developers of both technologies, culminated in a “meeting
of the minds” in Israel earlier this year. This resulted in the
MySQL library being packaged with the PHP 4.0 distribution, in
addition to an agreement to help each other improve the performance
quality of product integration whenever the opportunity
arises.”
“While the ability to easily embed dynamic code into your web
application is cool, this is just the beginning of what PHP has to
offer. The ability to make mathematical calculations, parse
strings, manipulate databases, and do much more via the web browser
is easy given the hundreds of predefined PHP functions. PHP 4.0
further expands upon this vast functionality, offering several new
features which greatly increase the overall appeal of the
language.”
“…one of the main attractions of PHP is the vast support it
provides for various database servers. This convention is certainly
the case for the MySQL database server as well, with over thirty
predefined functions. Although it is not my intention to cover each
function, several of the more applicable scenarios will be covered
in detail.”