So you've written a great application with PHP and it is up and running smooth. Then, your boss calls and tells you that your company won't be using MySQL anymore. You're moving to Oracle. Your application is dead in the water. You should have used database abstraction.
It's a grim tale that happens all too often. Don't think it can't happen to you. It will. When you least expect it. But don't worry, there are ways to plan for situations like this. Wouldn't you love to just smile at your boss and tell him it won't be a problem? Well, today you will learn just how to do that.
Database Abstraction is a method of coding that allows you to concentrate on coding rather than the syntax for a particular database API. You use generic methods to access the database, any database. Obviously, you need additional code or libraries to do database abstraction. That is where PEAR comes in. PEAR includes a database abstraction class that you can use in your scripts. There are other abstraction classes out there, but for the purpose of this tutorial we will focus on the one provided with PEAR.
