connection issue

I have experienced numerous connection issues from dreamweaver connecting to the database to my sites timing out to my sites not even connecting. After over 8 years of the hosting company blaming the programmer or extensions and WA support stating it was an issue with the host (which I tested vigorously on 3 different major hosting companies - yes, this was time consuming) I just received this advice - and reffered to this information from the php manual - mysql_pconnect — Open a persistent connection to a MySQL server,

minimize Suggested alternatives

Use of this extension is discouraged. Instead, the MySQLi or PDO_MySQL extension should be used. See also MySQL: choosing an API guide and related FAQ for more information. Alternatives to this function include:

mysqli_connect() with p: host prefix
PDO::__construct() with PDO::ATTR_PERSISTENT as a driver option



I simply removed the letter p from my connect file and my site appears to be working now. Is there a reason for the p connect and anything I should be aware of? Thank You,

using mysql_connect instead of mysql_pconnect in the connection shouldn't be an issue.

By default Dreamweaver uses persistent connections. A persistent connection will get reused if it is open whereas mysql_connect will create a standard connection which needs to be re established for each page that loads.