So what IS the best way to check if a row exists? EXISTS, COUNT or num_rows?

Question

If your only goal is to check if a row exists in php (true or false), what is the best way to do it?

Option 1?

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Answer 1

Option 3 is the fastest way to check if a row exists if you are using MySQL:

$query = mysql_query("SELECT EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM users WHERE id = 1)")

if (mysql_result($query, 0) == 1)
    // one user, like it should be.

else 
  // do something else