MySQL or MySQLi?

[AndrewGwood]

quick question,

i have been reading that post MySQL 4 I should be using ext/MySQLi with php but when it comes time to take my site out of development and pay for a shared hosting plan (not much control over server settings) how will i know the host is not using ext/mysql only? or is it more likely that they will have both enabled at this point in time? or is it as simple as enabling it with .htaccess? im lost, so i appreciate any response.

thanks,
andy

[jcarouth]

It's not as simple as enabling mysqli in an .htaccess file, unfortunately. php must be compiled with support for mysqli

as far as how you will know if the host has mysqli support compiled in, well, ask them.

[Mittineague]

You may not have much control over whether a host offers it, but you have conrol over which host you use. I imagine most do have it, but you should check before you commit.
Or you could use a "DB" class that is portable to whatever database is available.

[galen]

every decent host will have mysqli and pdo available