Chapter 1
Introducing MySQL
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding why you need a database
Seeing how MySQL works
Exploring the advanced features of MySQL
Computers are all about storing information. However, unlike that junk drawer in your kitchen that contains multiple shards of paper with names and phone numbers scribbled on them, you want to store your dynamic web application data in an orderly fashion. After all, you wouldn’t want to mix up the data from your astrophysics experiments with your bowling league scores!
The MySQL database server provides a user-friendly platform for you to organize your application data, making it simple to identify which data belongs to which application and easy for the application to access the data, all while maintaining security so the right people can only get to the right data. This chapter describes just why you need a database for your dynamic web applications, and why you should choose the MySQL database server.
Seeing the Purpose of a Database
With PHP, you have a few different options for storing persistent data in your application to retrieve at a later time. One method is to use the PHP file system functions to create a standard text file ...
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