Specifications

How RDBMSs Solve These Problems
Relational database management systems address all of these issues:
• RDBMSs can provide faster access to data than flat files. And MySQL, the database
system we use in this book, has some of the fastest benchmarks of any RDBMS.
• RDBMSs can be easily queried to extract sets of data that fit certain criteria.
• RDBMSs have built-in mechanisms for dealing with concurrent access so that you as a
programmer don’t have to worry about it.
• RDBMSs provide random access to your data.
• RDBMSs have built-in privilege systems. MySQL has particular strengths in this area.
Probably the main reason for using an RDBMS is that all (or at least most) of the functionality
that you want in a data storage system has already been implemented. Sure, you could write
your own library of PHP functions, but why reinvent the wheel?
In Part II of this book, “Using MySQL,” we’ll discuss how relational databases work generally,
and specifically how you can set up and use MySQL to create database-backed Web sites.
Further Reading
For more information on interacting with the file system, you can go straight to Chapter 16,
“Interacting with the File System and the Server.” In that section, we’ll talk about how to
change permissions, ownership, and names of files; how to work with directories; and how to
interact with the file system environment.
You may also want to read through the file system section of the PHP online manual at
http://www.php.net.
Next
In the next chapter, we’ll discuss what arrays are and how they can be used for processing data
in your PHP scripts.
Storing and Retrieving Data
C
HAPTER 2
2
STORING AND
RETRIEVING DATA
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