PHP Database Skill

Atomic skill for mastering database operations in PHP

Overview

Comprehensive skill for PHP database interactions covering PDO, ORM patterns, query optimization, schema design, and migrations.

Skill Parameters

Input Validation

interface SkillParams {
  topic:
    | "pdo"              // Native PHP database
    | "eloquent"         // Laravel ORM
    | "doctrine"         // Symfony ORM
    | "optimization"     // Query tuning, indexing
    | "migrations"       // Schema versioning
    | "transactions";    // ACID, locking

  level: "beginner" | "intermediate" | "advanced";
  database?: "mysql" | "postgresql" | "sqlite";
  orm?: "eloquent" | "doctrine" | "none";
}

Validation Rules

validation:
  topic:
    required: true
    allowed: [pdo, eloquent, doctrine, optimization, migrations, transactions]
  level:
    required: true
  database:
    default: "mysql"

Learning Modules

Module 1: PDO Fundamentals

beginner:
  - Connection and DSN
  - Prepared statements
  - Fetching results

intermediate:
  - Error handling modes
  - Transactions basics
  - Named placeholders

advanced:
  - Connection pooling
  - Stored procedures
  - Batch operations

Module 2: Query Optimization

beginner:
  - Basic indexing
  - EXPLAIN basics
  - WHERE clause optimization

intermediate:
  - Composite indexes
  - Join optimization
  - Query profiling

advanced:
  - Execution plan analysis
  - Partitioning
  - Query caching

Module 3: ORM Patterns

beginner:
  - Model basics
  - CRUD operations
  - Simple relationships

intermediate:
  - Eager loading (N+1 prevention)
  - Query scopes
  - Lifecycle hooks

advanced:
  - Custom repositories
  - Result caching
  - Batch processing

Error Handling & Retry Logic

errors:
  CONNECTION_ERROR:
    code: "DB_001"
    recovery: "Check connection string, retry with backoff"

  DEADLOCK_ERROR:
    code: "DB_002"
    recovery: "Retry transaction with exponential backoff"

  QUERY_ERROR:
    code: "DB_003"
    recovery: "Check SQL syntax, validate parameters"

retry:
  max_attempts: 3
  backoff:
    type: exponential
    initial_delay_ms: 100
    max_delay_ms: 2000
  retryable: [CONNECTION_ERROR, DEADLOCK_ERROR]

Code Examples

PDO with Prepared Statements

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

final class Database
{
    private \PDO $pdo;

    public function __construct(string $dsn, string $user, string $pass)
    {
        $this->pdo = new \PDO($dsn, $user, $pass, [
            \PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => \PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION,
            \PDO::ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE => \PDO::FETCH_ASSOC,
            \PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES => false,
        ]);
    }

    public function findById(int $id): ?array
    {
        $stmt = $this->pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = :id');
        $stmt->execute(['id' => $id]);
        return $stmt->fetch() ?: null;
    }

    public function insert(array $data): int
    {
        $stmt = $this->pdo->prepare(
            'INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (:name, :email)'
        );
        $stmt->execute($data);
        return (int) $this->pdo->lastInsertId();
    }
}

Transaction with Retry

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

final class TransactionService
{
    public function executeWithRetry(
        \PDO $pdo,
        callable $operation,
        int $maxRetries = 3
    ): mixed {
        $attempt = 0;

        while (true) {
            try {
                $pdo->beginTransaction();
                $result = $operation($pdo);
                $pdo->commit();
                return $result;
            } catch (\PDOException $e) {
                $pdo->rollBack();

                if (++$attempt >= $maxRetries || !$this->isRetryable($e)) {
                    throw $e;
                }

                usleep(100000 * pow(2, $attempt)); // Exponential backoff
            }
        }
    }

    private function isRetryable(\PDOException $e): bool
    {
        return str_contains($e->getMessage(), 'Deadlock');
    }
}

N+1 Prevention (Eloquent)

<?php
// BAD: N+1 problem
$posts = Post::all();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->author->name; // Query per post!
}

// GOOD: Eager loading
$posts = Post::with('author')->get();
foreach ($posts as $post) {
    echo $post->author->name; // No extra queries
}

// BETTER: Select specific columns
$posts = Post::with(['author:id,name'])->get(['id', 'title', 'author_id']);

Query Optimization

-- Before: Full table scan
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE status = 'pending';

-- Step 1: Add index
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_status ON orders(status);

-- Step 2: Analyze with EXPLAIN
EXPLAIN SELECT * FROM orders WHERE status = 'pending';

-- Result: Index scan instead of full table scan

Troubleshooting

Problem	Detection	Solution
N+1 queries	Debugbar shows 100+ queries	Use eager loading with()
Slow queries	Query > 1 second	Add indexes, run EXPLAIN
Deadlocks	"Deadlock found" error	Implement retry logic
Memory exhaustion	Memory limit error	Use chunk() or cursor()

Memory-Efficient Processing

<?php
// BAD: Loads all into memory
$users = User::all();

// GOOD: Chunk processing
User::chunk(1000, function ($users) {
    foreach ($users as $user) {
        // Process
    }
});

// BETTER: Cursor for minimal memory
foreach (User::cursor() as $user) {
    // Process one at a time
}

Quality Metrics

Metric	Target
Prepared statements	100%
N+1 prevention	100%
Index recommendations	≥95%
Transaction safety	100%

Usage

Skill("php-database", {topic: "optimization", level: "advanced"})