Tree Algorithm in PHP without Recursion

Question

I have a list of categories stored in mysql db. The categories can have child categories at any deep level user want.

Database Table

id  name                    parents
1   Apparel                                                                    
2   Appliances                                                                 
46  Apparel                 1                                                  
47  Child Apparel           1                                                  
48  Other Child Category    46                                                                                          

Now parents column tells me which category is a child of which parent. What best data structure algorithm I can use here without recursion in PHP?

Answer 1

This article explains how to store a tree based model, with the ability to look up children without recursive queries.

If the child nodes can be children of multiple parents, you should check out this model