counting the number of rows in a table using mysql

Question

whats the syntax in getting the total number of rows in a particular table in an mysql database?

Answer 1

I've always done

SELECT count(*) from table

The above will you give you the total count of all rows.

You could just as easily tack on a WHERE clause to get the count of some subset

SELECT count(*) from table WHERE foo = 'bar'

Answer 2

SELECT count(*)
FROM table_name

Answer 3

COUNT(*) facts and myths:

MYTH: "InnoDB doesn't handle count(*) queries well":

Most count(*) queries are executed same way by all storage engines if you have a WHERE clause, otherwise you InnoDB will have to perform a full table scan.

FACT: InnoDB doesn't optimize count(*) queries without the where clause