Should You Manually Close MySQL Connections in PHP for Optimal Efficiency?

Maintaining Efficiency: Exploring the Importance of Closing MySQL Connections

While running PHP scripts that establish MySQL connections, it's essential to consider whether closing those connections manually is crucial for maintaining efficiency.

Understanding the Default Behavior

According to the MySQL documentation, connections to the server are automatically closed when the execution of the PHP script ends. However, it suggests explicitly closing connections using mysql_close() if the script involves significant processing after fetching results.

Benefits of Explicitly Closing Connections

If the script performs extensive operations after fetching results, delaying the connection closure can lead to the MySQL server reaching its connection limit under heavy usage. Explicitly closing connections near the end of the script is a clean way to prevent this issue.

Impact of FastCGI

Some sources claim that PHP builds supporting fastCGI establish persistent connections, potentially contradicting the documentation. However, to ensure consistency and maintain best practices, it's recommended to use the mysql_close() function to manually close connections.

Recommendation

For both efficiency and code clarity, it's strongly advised to close MySQL connections explicitly using mysql_close() either manually or through PHP data objects (PDO) if available. By doing so, you can effectively prevent issues related to unclosed connections.

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