some dynamic and functional goals, it’s time to start tying in some of the more complicated
and powerful functionality available to PHP. The advantage to using a robust
server-side language such as PHP with Ajax-sculptured JavaScript is that you can use it
to accomplish tasks that are not easily accomplished (if at all) with JavaScript. One such
set of core functionality is that of database storage and retrieval.
It goes without saying that MySQL combined with PHP is a developer’s dream. They
are both incredibly affordable, robust, and loaded with documentation and functionality.
While MySQL generally has a licensing fee, an exception has been made for working with
MySQL together with PHP, called FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software). FLOSS
allows for free usage of MySQL (for more information on FLOSS, see the MySQL documentation
at www.mysql.com/company/legal/licensing/foss-exception.html). PHP and
MySQL connect to each other with the greatest of ease and perform quite admirably from
a processing standpoint. With the recent release of MySQL 5.0, you can now accomplish
many things that were previously possible only with expensive database solutions such
as Oracle.
MySQL 5.0 has added a few new features—some of the more powerful ones include
stored procedures, triggers, and views. Stored procedures allow you to create and access
functions executed strictly on the MySQL server. This allows for developers to put a
greater load on the MySQL server and less on the scripting language they are using.
Triggers allow you to perform queries that fire when a certain event is triggered within
the MySQL server. Again, like stored procedures, triggers allow the MySQL server to take
on more of a processing role, which takes some emphasis off of the scripting language.
Views allow you to create custom “reports” that can reference information within the
database. Calling views is a simple and efficient way to “view” certain data within your
database. All of this functionality has been available in more elaborate database systems
(such as Oracle) for years, and MySQL’s inclusion of them really shows that it’s becoming
a key player in the database game.
The ability to harness PHP-, MySQL-, and Ajax-sculpted JavaScript is a very powerful
tool that is readily available to any developer in the know. In fact, entire software applications
have been built using the Ajax architecture to manage a MySQL database. Online
applications such as TurboDbAdmin (www.turboajax.com/turbodbadmin.html)—have come a long way in showing you what is possible when PHP, Ajax, and
MySQL come together. TurboDbAdmin shows off a good portion of the Ajax-based
application gamut. Everything from inserting and maintaining rows, switching tabs,
performing queries, and creating dynamic content is handled by seamless Ajax-based
functionality. All in all, TurboDbAdmin does a very solid job of showing that Ajax is very
capable of handling complex database management.
While TurboDbAdmin does an admirable job working with your MySQL server, and
is very simple to install and implement, I find that the functionality is not quite as
robust as some of the more refined, PHP-based MySQL management systems, such as
phpMyAdmin (more on that later). Still, TurboDbAdmin provides an interesting perspective
on where Ajax can take you and what can be accomplished.
The focus of this post be to show you just how easy it is to create online Ajaxdriven
applications that can connect easily to a MySQL server.
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