How to Efficiently Build Tree Menus in PHP and MySQL with a Single Query?

Building Tree Menus in PHP and MySQL

When attempting to construct unordered list menu trees from a MySQL database in PHP, performance efficiency is crucial. To achieve this, a single database query can be utilized and recursion can be avoided.

Solution:

The following PHP function takes an array of page objects as input, each of which contains an ID, title, and parent ID attributes. It recursively generates the HTML list structure through a traversal of the objects.

<code class="php">function build_menu($objects, $parent = 0) {
  $result  = "<ul>";

  foreach ($objects as $object) {
    if ($object['parent_id'] == $parent) {
      $result .= "<li>{$object['title']}";

      if (has_children($objects, $object['id'])) {
        $result .= build_menu($objects, $object['id']);
      }

      $result .= "</li>";
    }
  }

  $result .= "</ul>";
  return $result;
}</code>

Usage:

To utilize the function, an array of page objects can be retrieved from the database and passed as arguments to it. The function will return a formatted HTML list structure representing the menu tree.

<code class="php">$page_objects = get_page_objects_from_database();
$menu_html = build_menu($page_objects);</code>

Improved Efficiency:

For optimal efficiency, it is recommended to order the results using a SQL query. This ensures that the objects are processed in a logical sequence, minimizing unnecessary comparisons and iterations. Additionally, a weight or sequence column in the database schema can aid in organizing the menu tree.

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