Is using the MAX() function in MySQL a more efficient way to retrieve the last entry ID compared to using ORDER BY and LIMIT in PHP?

Using the MAX() function in MySQL is a more efficient way to retrieve the last entry ID compared to using ORDER BY and LIMIT in PHP because it allows the database to handle the operation internally, reducing the amount of data that needs to be transferred between the database and the PHP script.

// Connect to the database
$connection = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Query to retrieve the last entry ID using MAX() function
$query = "SELECT MAX(id) AS last_id FROM table_name";
$result = $connection->query($query);

// Check if query was successful
if ($result) {
    // Fetch the last entry ID
    $row = $result->fetch_assoc();
    $last_id = $row['last_id'];
    
    // Use the last entry ID as needed
    echo "Last entry ID: " . $last_id;
} else {
    echo "Error: " . $connection->error;
}

// Close the database connection
$connection->close();