What are some best practices for storing lists in a relational database using PHP?

When storing lists in a relational database using PHP, it is best practice to use a separate table to represent the list items. This allows for better organization, easier querying, and scalability. Each item in the list should be stored as a separate row in the table, with a foreign key linking it back to the main table. This approach ensures data integrity and flexibility in managing the list items. 

// Create a table to store list items
CREATE TABLE list_items (
    id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    list_id INT,
    item_name VARCHAR(255),
    FOREIGN KEY (list_id) REFERENCES main_table(id)
);

// Insert list items into the table
INSERT INTO list_items (list_id, item_name) VALUES (1, 'Item 1');
INSERT INTO list_items (list_id, item_name) VALUES (1, 'Item 2');
INSERT INTO list_items (list_id, item_name) VALUES (1, 'Item 3');

// Query list items for a specific list
$list_id = 1;
$query = "SELECT item_name FROM list_items WHERE list_id = $list_id";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    echo $row['item_name'] . "<br>";
}

Keywords

relational database PHP storing lists data normalization SQL queries

Related Questions