Is it necessary to use two separate tables in a PHP application for storing temporary data and original data, or are there more efficient alternatives?
It is not necessary to use two separate tables for storing temporary data and original data in a PHP application. A more efficient alternative is to add a column in the original data table to indicate whether the data is temporary or original. This way, you can easily distinguish between the two types of data within the same table.
// Example of adding a column to indicate temporary data in the original data table
$sql = "ALTER TABLE original_data ADD COLUMN is_temporary BOOLEAN DEFAULT 0";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
// Inserting temporary data into the original data table
$sql = "INSERT INTO original_data (data, is_temporary) VALUES ('temporary data', 1)";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
// Retrieving original data from the original data table
$sql = "SELECT * FROM original_data WHERE is_temporary = 0";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);