How can SQL group by be utilized to simplify data output in a PHP project?

When working with SQL data in a PHP project, the GROUP BY clause can be utilized to simplify the output by grouping rows that have the same values in specified columns. This can be useful for aggregating data and performing calculations on grouped data.

// Connect to the database
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "myDB";

$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

// Query to select data grouped by a specific column
$sql = "SELECT column1, SUM(column2) as total FROM table_name GROUP BY column1";

$result = $conn->query($sql);

// Output the grouped data
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "Column1: " . $row["column1"]. " - Total: " . $row["total"]. "<br>";
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

$conn->close();