How can the MAX function in MySQL be utilized to retrieve specific data in a PHP SQL query?

To utilize the MAX function in MySQL to retrieve specific data in a PHP SQL query, you can use the MAX function within your SELECT statement to retrieve the maximum value of a specific column. This can be useful for finding the highest value in a particular column, such as the highest salary or highest score.

<?php
// Connect to database
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "database";

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

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

// SQL query using MAX function
$sql = "SELECT MAX(salary) AS max_salary FROM employees";

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

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    // Output data of each row
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "Maximum Salary: " . $row["max_salary"];
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

$conn->close();
?>