The four most popular databases for use with PHP are MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server. Each have been developed independently of each other, but all roughly conform to the same standards and therefore offer much of the same functionality.
To help you choose the right DBMS for you, I want to briefly explain the advantages and disadvantages of each option, as well as their various histories.
Want to learn PHP 7?
Hacking with PHP has been fully updated for PHP 7, and is now available as a downloadable PDF. Get over 1200 pages of hands-on PHP learning today!
If this was helpful, please take a moment to tell others about Hacking with PHP by tweeting about it!