What is the alternative method for achieving the desired result in a SQL query with PHP if the MAX function is not working?

If the MAX function is not working in a SQL query with PHP, an alternative method to achieve the desired result is to manually loop through the results and compare each value to find the maximum value. This can be done by storing the maximum value in a variable and updating it as needed while iterating through the results.

// Connect to the database
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

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

// Query to fetch data
$sql = "SELECT column_name FROM table_name";
$result = $conn->query($sql);

// Initialize max value
$maxValue = 0;

// Loop through the results and find the maximum value
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        if ($row['column_name'] > $maxValue) {
            $maxValue = $row['column_name'];
        }
    }
}

// Output the maximum value
echo "The maximum value is: " . $maxValue;

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