Yes, `mysqli` can work with MariaDB in PHP. The `mysqli` extension stands for "MySQL Improved" and is designed to work with both MySQL and MariaDB databases. MariaDB is a fork of MySQL, so they share a lot of similarities and are largely compatible with each other.
When you use the `mysqli` extension in PHP, you can connect to both MySQL and MariaDB databases using the same functions and methods. This is because the `mysqli` extension provides an improved and more feature-rich API for accessing MySQL and MariaDB databases in PHP.
Here's a simple example of connecting to a MariaDB database using `mysqli` in PHP:
<?php
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "your_username";
$password = "your_password";
$dbname = "your_database";
// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
echo "Connected successfully";
// Close connection
$conn->close();
?>
Remember to replace `your_username`, `your_password`, and `your_database` with your actual database credentials.
So, whether you are working with MySQL or MariaDB, you can use `mysqli` in PHP to interact with the database effectively.