Difference between mysql & mysqli

Question

Can anyone tell me the difference between mysql_* functions and mysqli_* functions?

Is there any technical reasons behind we shouldn't use the mysql_* functions?

Answer 1

The "i" stands for the "improved". The list of improvements of it can be found here.

MySQLi is the OOP version of the MySQL extension. In the result, MySQLi and MySQL achieve the same thing: they are extensions for interacting with the  MySQL from PHP. Many people still use the original MySQL extension instead of the new MySQLi extension because MySQLi requires MySQL 4.1.13+ and PHP 5.0.7+.

MySQLi supports some things that the old MySQL extension doesn't support. Some things like the prepared statements, multiple statements, and transactions on top of my head.

Want to learn more concepts related to SQL? Join this SQL Course by Intellipaat.