Sams Teach Yourself PHP, MySQL and Apache All in One (3rd Edition)

If you have used previous versions of PHP, or current versions of PHP with older versions of MySQL, you likely are familiar with the mysql_* family of functions. However, since the release of MySQL 4.1.3 it has become necessary to communicate with MySQL using the mysqli_* family of functions. All code in this chapter, and throughout the rest of this book, uses the mysqli_* family of functions. For more information, see the PHP Manual chapter at http://www.php.net/mysqli.