Releasing the Connection with closeCursor()

When working with databases, it is crucial to release resources as soon as they are no longer needed. The closeCursor() method closes the cursor of the current query, allowing a new SQL statement to be executed immediately on the same connection. This is particularly important on servers that do not allow a new query until the previous one is completely finished.

EXAMPLE

<?php
class Database {
    private $server = "localhost";
    private $username = "root";
    private $password = "";
    private $db_name = "pdo_db";
    public $connection;

    public function __construct() {
        try {
            // Added charset=utf8mb4 for character support
            $dsn = "mysql:host=" . $this->server . ";dbname=" . $this->db_name . ";charset=utf8mb4";
            $this->connection = new PDO($dsn, $this->username, $this->password);
            $this->connection->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
        } catch(PDOException $e) {
            die("Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage());
        }
    }

    public function getUser($id) {
        $statement = $this->connection->prepare("SELECT first_name, last_name FROM users WHERE id = :id");
        $statement->execute(['id' => $id]);
        
        $result = $statement->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
        
        // VERY IMPORTANT: Release the query cursor
        $statement->closeCursor();

        return $result;
    }
}

// PART 3: Usage
$db = new Database();
$data = $db->getUser(1); // Searching for user with ID 1

if ($data) {
    echo "User found: " . $data['first_name'] . " " . $data['last_name'];
} else {
    echo "User does not exist.";
}
?>

RESULT

The result will be displayed here...

Practical Application: We always use the closeCursor method when we only read a part of the data from the database or when we want to execute another query on the same connection immediately after. Check the process at home by following these steps:

Open the XAMPP control panel and start Apache and MySQL.
In phpMyAdmin, create the database pdo_db and the table settings using the code below.
The method releases the cursor of the prepared statement, ensuring stability during consecutive database calls.
Create a PHP file with the class below and check the outputted name from the database in your browser.