What are the benefits of using DISTINCT() in MySQL queries and how can it be effectively utilized in PHP?

Using DISTINCT() in MySQL queries helps to retrieve unique values from a specific column, eliminating duplicate entries. This can be useful when you only want to display distinct values in your result set. In PHP, you can utilize DISTINCT() by including it in your SQL query and fetching the results using a loop or a fetch method. 

<?php
// Establish a connection to the database
$connection = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

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

// Query to select distinct values from a column
$sql = "SELECT DISTINCT(column_name) FROM table_name";
$result = $connection->query($sql);

// Fetch and display the distinct values
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo $row["column_name"] . "<br>";
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

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

Keywords

DISTINCT MySQL queries utilization PHP benefits

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