What are some common methods for detecting changes in a MySQL database using PHP?

When working with a MySQL database in PHP, it is important to be able to detect changes in the database to ensure data integrity and consistency. One common method for detecting changes is to use triggers in MySQL to capture insert, update, and delete operations on specific tables. Another approach is to periodically compare checksums of tables to detect any changes in the data.

// Using triggers in MySQL to detect changes
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Create a trigger to log changes in a specific table
$mysqli->query("CREATE TRIGGER log_changes AFTER INSERT ON table_name FOR EACH ROW
                INSERT INTO change_log (table_name, operation, timestamp) VALUES ('table_name', 'INSERT', NOW())");

// Periodically compare checksums of tables to detect changes
$old_checksum = $mysqli->query("CHECKSUM TABLE table_name")->fetch_assoc()['Checksum'];
// Perform some operations that may change the data
$new_checksum = $mysqli->query("CHECKSUM TABLE table_name")->fetch_assoc()['Checksum'];

if ($old_checksum != $new_checksum) {
    echo "Changes detected in table_name!";
}