Is there a better, more “Standard” way to perform SQL queries in PHP without using a framework?

Question

For the longest time, I\'ve been using the following basic formatting for SQL queries within my PHP:

$sql = \"SELECT * FROM `user-data` WHERE `id` = \'\".$id.\"\         


        

Answer 1

I've been wondering why I am always seeing the more complicated form of string building like this: "literal string " . $a . " more literal", rather than "literal string $a more literal", or in your case:

"SELECT * FROM `user-data` WHERE `id` = '".$id."' LIMIT 1;";

instead of this:

"SELECT * FROM `user-data` WHERE `id` = '$id' LIMIT 1;";

For more complicated expressions, I like to use sprintf (but I was a c programmer for a long time):

$sql = sprintf("SELECT * FROM `user-data` WHERE `id` = '%s' LIMIT 1", $id);

This can also be written in this format:

$sql = sprintf("
    SELECT * 
       FROM `user-data` 
    WHERE `id` = '%s' 
        LIMIT 1", 
    $id);

In this case, it doesn't buy much, but when there are several variables embedded in the string, it makes it easier to manage.