MySQL Database Connection in PHP | PHP Tutorial For Beginners

After learning the basic structure of PHP, the next step is connecting to a MySQL database. This tutorial walks through every step — connecting, selecting a database, running queries, and closing the connection.

Step 1 — Connect to MySQL

Use mysql_connect(hostname, username, password) to open a database connection.

<?php
$hostname = "localhost";
$username = "root";
$password = "";

$conn = mysql_connect($hostname, $username, $password)
    or die("Unable to connect");

echo "Connected to MySQL";
?>

If the connection succeeds you will see Connected to MySQL. If not, verify your hostname, username, and password.

Step 2 — Select a Database

Use mysql_select_db() with the connection object to choose which database to work with.

<?php
$database = mysql_select_db("phptutorials", $conn)
    or die("Could not select phptutorials");
?>

Step 3 — Run a Query

mysql_query() executes SQL and returns a result set. mysql_fetch_array() retrieves rows one at a time.

<?php
$result = mysql_query("SELECT id, name, address FROM students");

while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
    echo "ID: "      . $row['id']
       . " Name: "   . $row['name']
       . " Address: " . $row['address']
       . "<br>";
}
?>

Step 4 — Close the Connection

<?php
mysql_close($conn);
?>

Full Example

<?php
$hostname = "localhost";
$username = "root";
$password = "";

// Connect to MySQL
$conn = mysql_connect($hostname, $username, $password)
    or die("Unable to connect");
echo "Connected to MySQL";

// Select database
$database = mysql_select_db("phptutorials", $conn)
    or die("Could not select phptutorials");

// Run query and fetch data
$result = mysql_query("SELECT id, name, address FROM students");
while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
    echo "ID: "       . $row['id']
       . " Name: "    . $row['name']
       . " Address: " . $row['address']
       . "<br>";
}

// Close connection
mysql_close($conn);
?>

Hope this tutorial is useful for you. Keep following PHP Tutorial for Beginners for more help.