Chapter 13. PHP API

One of the most popular programming language and database engine combinations for the Web is PHP with MySQL. This combination works well for many reasons: primarily the speed, stability, and simplicity of both applications. The first part of this chapter provides a basic tutorial on how to connect to MySQL and how to query MySQL with PHP. Following the tutorial is a reference of PHP MySQL functions in alphabetical order. For the examples in this chapter, a database for a fictitious computer support business is used. The database contains one table with client work requests (workreq) and another with client contact information (clients).