What are the potential pitfalls of using count() function in PHP with MySQL queries?

When using the count() function in PHP with MySQL queries, it is important to be aware that it can be inefficient when dealing with large datasets. This is because count() retrieves all rows from the database before counting them, which can lead to performance issues. To mitigate this problem, it is recommended to use the SQL COUNT() function directly in the query to only retrieve the count value without fetching all rows.

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

// Query to get the count of rows directly from the database
$query = "SELECT COUNT(*) AS total_rows FROM table_name";
$result = $connection->query($query);

// Fetch the count value
$row = $result->fetch_assoc();
$total_rows = $row['total_rows'];

// Display the count value
echo "Total rows: " . $total_rows;

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