Fastest loop code/best way to get database results into array

I'm working on some code that deals with a LOT of results from a MySQL
database and drops them into an array. It deals with about 17,200
results on a very fast box in about 0.5 seconds, which is not too bad,
until I realize I may need to call it on about that many results
several times in a page.

Is there any way to speed things up? Change to a different loop type?
Some other technique for pulling the data out of the database faster?
My only requirement is that the array format remain unchanged (yes,
associative values are important).

Here's the code, which seems awfully simple:

for($i=0; $i < $num_results; $i++)
{
$search_results[$i] = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC);
}

On Mon, 2003-12-01 at 03:06, Galen wrote:
> I'm working on some code that deals with a LOT of results from a MySQL
> database and drops them into an array. It deals with about 17,200
> results on a very fast box in about 0.5 seconds, which is not too bad,
> until I realize I may need to call it on about that many results
> several times in a page.
>
> Is there any way to speed things up? Change to a different loop type?
> Some other technique for pulling the data out of the database faster?
> My only requirement is that the array format remain unchanged (yes,
> associative values are important).
>
> Here's the code, which seems awfully simple:
>
> for($i=0; $i < $num_results; $i++)
> {
> $search_results[$i] = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC);
> }

You might squeeze a little more speed by using the following:

while( ($search_results[] = mysql_fetch_assoc( $result )) !== false );
array_pop( $search_results );

Cheers,
Rob.
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On Mon, Dec 01, 2003 at 03:24:35AM -0500, Robert Cummings wrote:
:
: On Mon, 2003-12-01 at 03:06, Galen wrote:
: >
: > I'm working on some code that deals with a LOT of results from a MySQL
: > database and drops them into an array. It deals with about 17,200
: > results on a very fast box in about 0.5 seconds, which is not too bad,
: > until I realize I may need to call it on about that many results
: > several times in a page.
: >
: > Is there any way to speed things up? Change to a different loop type?
: > Some other technique for pulling the data out of the database faster?
: > My only requirement is that the array format remain unchanged (yes,
: > associative values are important).
: >
: > Here's the code, which seems awfully simple:
: >
: > for($i=0; $i < $num_results; $i++)
: > {
: > $search_results[$i] = mysql_fetch_array($result, MYSQL_ASSOC);
: > }
:
: You might squeeze a little more speed by using the following:
:
: while( ($search_results[] = mysql_fetch_assoc( $result )) !== false );
: array_pop( $search_results );

For large query results, you might consider using mysql_unbuffered_query()
and the while-loop instead of mysql_query() and the for-loop.

Otherwise, if the PHP code is optimal enough, the other obvious place is
to maybe optimize the query itself or that particular MySQL table.