Is it ok to query inside a while loop? - php

Question

I have two tables in one database. I am querying the first table limit by 10 then loop the results. And inside the while loop, I am doing again another query using a data from the first query as a parameter. Here is an example of the script:
<?php
$con = mysql_connect(host,username,password);
mysql_select_db(game_server);
//My first query
$q1 = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM game_characters ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT 10');
while($character = mysql_fetch_object($q1)){
//My second query
$q2 = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM game_board WHERE id="'.$character->id.'"');
$player = mysql_fetch_object($q2);
}
?>
So if I have a result of 100 rows, then the second query will execute 100 times. And I know it is not good. How can I make it better. Is there a way to do everything in one query? What if there is another query inside the while loop where a data from the second query as a parameter is used?
P.S.: I am doing a rankings system for an online game.

Answer 1

You can do it in one query if you use JOINs.
SELECT * FROM game_board AS b
LEFT JOIN game_characters AS c ON b.id = c.id
ORDER BY c.score DESC
LIMIT 10
You can also use nested query
SELECT * FROM game_board AS b WHERE
id IN (SELECT id FROM game_characters AS c ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT 10)
You can also put all game_character.id into an array, and use
$sql = "SELECT * FROM game_board AS b WHERE b.id IN (" . implode(', ', $game_character_ids) . ")";

Answer 2

Why not using JOIN?
This way there will be no queries within the while loop:
$con = mysql_connect(host,username,password);
mysql_select_db(game_server);
//My first query
$q1 = mysql_query('
SELECT *
FROM game_characters gc
LEFT JOIN game_board gb ON gc.id = gb.id
ORDER BY score DESC
LIMIT 10
');
while($character = mysql_fetch_object($q1)){
// do Your stuff here, no other query...
}

Answer 3

A better approach here would be to collect all the IDs in a concatenated string str in form 'id1', 'id2', 'id3', ... and use:
select * from game_board where id in (str)

Answer 4

What about if you do something like the following:
<?php
$con = mysql_connect(host,username,password);
mysql_select_db(game_server);
//My first query
$q1 = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM game_characters ORDER BY score DESC LIMIT 10');
while($character = mysql_fetch_object($q1)){
//My second query
$characters .= " ' $character->id ' ,"
}
$q2 = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM game_board WHERE id in (substr($characters,0,strlen($characters - 2))");
$player = mysql_fetch_object($q2);
?>