Are there any best practices or guidelines for handling MySQL connections in PHP to optimize performance and prevent issues with connection limits?

To optimize performance and prevent issues with connection limits when using MySQL connections in PHP, it is recommended to establish a connection only when needed and close it as soon as possible to free up resources. Additionally, using connection pooling or persistent connections can help reduce the overhead of establishing a new connection for each request.

// Establish a MySQL connection only when needed
$connection = null;

function getDBConnection() {
    global $connection;

    if ($connection === null) {
        $connection = mysqli_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database");
    }

    return $connection;
}

// Close the MySQL connection as soon as possible
function closeDBConnection() {
    global $connection;

    if ($connection !== null) {
        mysqli_close($connection);
        $connection = null;
    }
}

// Example of using the connection
$db = getDBConnection();

// Perform database operations

// Close the connection when done
closeDBConnection();