MySQLi query results: Best approach, do you close, free, both?

Question

I have some questions about using MySQLi, queries, and related memory management. The code here is just to clarify my questions, so don\'t dump on it for error checking, etc. I

Answer 1

The answers already provided are good, but I wanted to add one point and clarify another.

First, the clarification. Regarding the use of the close() method, it's important to note that the OP was referencing the close() method of the mysqli_result class, not the mysqli class. In the result class, the close() method is simply an alias to the free() method, as shown in the documentation, while in the mysqli class, it closes the connection. Thus, it's okay to use close() on the result in place of free() if desired.

Second, the additional point. As has already been pointed out, PHP's execution pattern means that everything will eventually be cleaned up behind you, and thus, you don't necessarily need to worry about releasing memory. However, if you're allocating a lot of result objects, or if you're allocating particularly big result objects (e.g., fetching a large amount of data), then you should probably free the memory when you're done to prevent problems further down the path of execution. This becomes especially important as your application starts to get more traffic, where the total amount of memory tied up across sessions can quickly become significant.