3.9. Advanced Features

Using the SQL presented thus far in this chapter should handle 90% of your database programming needs. On occasion, however, you will need some extra power not available in the basic SQL functionality. We close out the chapter with a discussion of a few of these features.

3.9.1. Full Text Searching

MySQL introduced the ability to search on text elements within a text field in Version 3.23.23 through a special index called a FULLTEXT index. It specifically enables you to do something like: