Know all the other main mysql functions off by heart. *Always* forget the order of mysql_connect’s variables. Even though they are obvious!
$conn = mysql_connect('localhost', USERNAME, PASSWORD) or die ('Could not connect to db');
mysql_select_db(DATABASE);
although mysqli and pdo are safer/better to use.
mysqli
$mysqli = new mysqli('localhost', USERNAME, PASSWORD, DATABASE);
pdo:
http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pdo-mysql.php
<?
$pdosettings = array(
PDO::MYSQL_ATTR_INIT_COMMAND => "SET NAMES utf8"
);
$pdo = new PDO(
'mysql:host=HOSTNAME;dbname=DATABASENAME',
'USERNAME',
'PASSWORD',
$pdosettings
);
?>