How can the "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS" command be used to prevent errors when creating a table in PHP?

When creating a table in PHP using SQL queries, it is possible to encounter errors if the table already exists in the database. To prevent these errors, the "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS" command can be used. This command will only create the table if it does not already exist in the database, avoiding any errors that may occur. 

<?php
// Connect to 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);
}

// SQL query to create table if it does not exist
$sql = "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS MyGuests (
    id INT(6) UNSIGNED AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    firstname VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
    lastname VARCHAR(30) NOT NULL,
    email VARCHAR(50),
    reg_date TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
)";

// Execute query
if ($conn->query($sql) === TRUE) {
    echo "Table MyGuests created successfully";
} else {
    echo "Error creating table: " . $conn->error;
}

// Close connection
$conn->close();
?>

Keywords

CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS PHP MySQL SQL error prevention

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