Do You Really Need a Database?
The PHP Blog posted an article a little while ago titled PHP & MySQL are not Peanut Butter & Jelly. The gist of the article is that PHP and MySQL are not joined at the hip and that programmers needlessly rely on databases for projects that don’t necessarily require them.
There is an unfortunate misconception in the PHP community, that PHP & MySQL are like peanut butter & jelly. Just two peas in a pod. The thinking is, if you’re going to use PHP, then you have to use MySQL to store values.
That philosophy is wrong. Dead wrong.
I know for my part, being a database designer at heart, I can’t remember the last non-trivial program I wrote, PHP or otherwise, that did not access a database. I will agree from the outset though that MySQL is not the only option for database programming in PHP. If your needs aren’t strenuous, SQLite is a good option. If your needs ARE strenuous, Oracle and DB2 are both available to you.
It’s an interesting and thought provoking article. I’m not sure I agree with all of Sean’s points but they are all worth considering.
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