storing data in array vs database

The biggest reason you would want to use a database over an array is if users enter information one day, and retrieve it another day. Databases are good for holding data for long periods of time.

Another reason someone may use a database is if you are storing large amounts of data.

An advantage with arrays over databases is the speed. A database call is going to be much slower than accessing an element in an array. It sounds to me you would be best using an array.

The guide below is for a OS X computer. If you decide not to use a database, you're gonna have some trouble in the future. But if so, I suggest encoding your array into JSON format with this PHP code:

$projects["id"] = array(
    "title" => "Project Title #1",
    "begin_date" => "8/1/2005",
    "end_date" => "1/1/2006",
    "investor" => "Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.",
    "client" => "Microsoft",
    "work_as" => "Contractor",
    "photos" => array(
        "http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/1",
        "http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/2",
        "http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/3",
        "http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/4"
    )
);

echo json_encode($projects);

Once you've done that, set up a PostreSQL database server and create a new database and then connect to it by typing:

createdb json_test

psql json_test

Now you need to create the table inside the database. You can do this by typing:

CREATE TABLE json_table ( id INTEGER, doc JSON);

Next, copy the JSON data from your PHP page and make some minor tweaks so it looks something similar to this:

INSERT INTO json_table VALUES ( 1, '{
    "title": "Project Title #1",                                                      
    "begin_date": "8/1/2005",                                                         
    "end_date": "1/1/2006",                                                           
    "investor": "Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.",                                           
    "client": "Microsoft",                                                            
    "work_as": "Contractor",                                                          
    "photos":{                                                                        
        "1":"http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/1",                                        
        "2":"http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/2",                                        
        "3":"http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/3",                                        
        "4:"http://lorempicsum.com/nemo/400/200/4"                                         
    }                                                                               
}');

When you are done with that, just copy and paste it into your terminal and hit enter. You should get a "INSERT" message. To check your table type "SELECT * FROM first;".

Here's what your database should look like:

jordan, thanks for your answer. I was initially thinking of adding an array to the project as well. I just wasn't quite sure if it's the better way of storing data. I guess my concern was that if the data grows I will need to migrate the array to a database. Is there a way to convert an array to a database using PHP?