6.5. Summary

This chapter introduced two new database extensions in PHP 5: mysqli and sqlite. It also presents PEAR DB, which is the most popular database abstraction layer for PHP. In this chapter, you learned:

• Some of the strengths and weaknesses of mysql versus sqlite

• When it makes sense to use a database abstraction layer

• How to connect to databases using mysqli, sqlite, or DB

• Executing queries and fetching results with mysqli, sqlite, or DB

• Executing prepared queries with mysqli and DB

• The difference between buffered and unbuffered queries

• Various ways of fetching data from queries

• Database error handling

• Using triggers and user-defined functions with sqlite

• How to create portable database code with DB