What is the difference between inner joins and updates in PHP when updating data in multiple tables?

When updating data in multiple tables in PHP, inner joins can be used to combine the tables based on a common column and update the desired fields in both tables simultaneously. This ensures that the data in both tables stay consistent. On the other hand, updates in PHP involve separate queries to update each table individually, which can lead to inconsistencies if one of the queries fails or if the tables are not updated in sync.

<?php
// Using inner join to update data in multiple tables simultaneously
$sql = "UPDATE table1
        INNER JOIN table2 ON table1.common_column = table2.common_column
        SET table1.field1 = 'new_value1', table2.field2 = 'new_value2'
        WHERE condition";

// Execute the query
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

if ($result) {
    echo "Data updated successfully in multiple tables.";
} else {
    echo "Error updating data: " . mysqli_error($conn);
}
?>