Chapter8.Introduction to Databases

Chapter 8. Introduction to Databases

Now that we have a basic understanding of the PHP language, it is time to turn to the other major feature that will power many of our web applicationsthe database. Although we face a dizzying array of database management systems (DBMS) from which to choose, we will soon discover that they all support a common set of functionalities. We will therefore be able to focus more of our efforts on the structure and workings of our programs instead of the minutiae of a piece of software. The next few chapters introduce you to some of the database engines available today, how to create databases and tables, how to manipulate data within them, and finally how to do all of this from within PHP.

In this chapter, we will

• Provide some common terminology for databases

• Discuss why, where, and when we would want to use a database

• Learn about the more commonly available and popular database servers

• Analyze how to choose the right database engine