Standard connection libraries for MySQL, MSSQL, and Oracle in PHP

Question

I'm looking for a standard way to connect to databases in PHP. We've all been there - first start with some rudimentary code to connect/query/iterate/insert/disconnect, then the code grew as the program grew, and it ended up with a mess that's hardly reusable.

I know there are many PEAR, PECL, and other PHP libraries/classes out there that can fit my description - but which ones are maintained, used, and have proven to be bug-free and efficient?

Answer 1

if you're using PHP 5 try out PDO