This is how you connect to a MySQL database and perform raw queries - using plain PHP and best practices.
PHP version 5.1+
- PDO (php.net/pdo)
echo extension_loaded('pdo'); // Check if PDO extension is loaded
echo extension_loaded('pdo_mysql'); // Check if MySQL driver is loaded- Alternative syntax (php.net/alternative-syntax)
- Short tags (
<?=) - MVC pattern (wikipedia.org)