How can field type affect the sorting order of data in MySQL when using PHP?

The field type in MySQL can affect the sorting order of data when using PHP because different data types are sorted differently. For example, if a field is stored as a string, the sorting will be done alphabetically, while if it is stored as a number, the sorting will be done numerically. To ensure the correct sorting order, you should always use the appropriate data type for your field in MySQL.

// Example of sorting data in MySQL using PHP with correct field types
$query = "SELECT * FROM table_name ORDER BY field_name ASC"; // ASC for ascending order
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

if(mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
    while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
        // Process the sorted data
    }
}