In php how to do session instances?

Question

I'm quite new on php and am trying to learn it.

My question is rather simple but I've been a bit lost while googling for it.

I just want to create an object to manage the database connection. I already did the object and now the problem I'm facing is:

How do i keep it instanced to a session? (So that i don't need to open/close the connection to the database on every page load) And how do I call it afterward?

Are there any way to declare a destroyer, so that when the instance is dying, the connection to the database gets closed?

Answer 1

If you define a __destruct() method on your object, it'll get called when the object is about to be destroyed. You can use this to close your database connection.

You can also use __sleep() and __wakeup() for serializing your objects. They'll get called automatically upon serialization and unserialization. You could use these methods to connect and disconnect as required.

Answer 2

I hate to answer by refuting the question but I think you are going about resolving the problem in the wrong way here.

Rather than worrying about the connection being opened/closed I would suggest using caching, indexing, etc. to solve performance problems when they arise rather than being concerned about the resources involved in establishing a connection.

If you are really concerned about performance why not cache the affected pages and avoid using the database connection at all?

I think you could get the desired effect with this function (don't use this myself, assuming mysql) but be sure to read the comments:

http://www.php.net/mysql-pconnect

I don't think you want to start using sleep/wakeup techniques as to get this working as I understand it would involve creating a whole bunch of separate threads each with its own database connection which will just sap your resources and produce the opposite of the intended effect.