Introducing PDO

Abstract

While all mainstream databases adhere to the SQL standard, albeit to varying degrees, the interfaces that programmers depend upon to interact with the database can vary greatly (even if the queries are largely the same). Therefore, applications are almost invariably bound to a particular database, forcing users to also install and maintain the required database if they don’t already own it or, alternatively, to choose another, possibly less capable, solution that is compatible with their present environment. For instance, suppose your organization requires an application that runs exclusively on Oracle, but your organization is standardized on MySQL. Are you prepared to invest the considerable resources required to obtain the necessary level of Oracle knowledge required to run in a mission-critical environment and then deploy and maintain that database throughout the application’s lifetime?