Design Patterns: How to create database object/connection only when needed?

Question

I\'ve a simple application, say it has some classes and an \"extra\" one that handles database requests. Currently i\'m creating the database object everytime the app is use

Answer 1

Here is an example of a simple approach:

class Database {
  public $connection = null ;

  public function __construct($autosetup = false){
    if ($autosetup){
      $this->setConnection() ;
    }
  }

  public function getProducts(){//Move it to another class if you wish
    $this->query($sql_to_get_products);
  }

  public function query($sql) {
    if (!$connection || !$connection->ping()){
      $this->setupConnection() ;
    }
    return $this->connection->query($sql);
  }

  public function setConnection(){
    $this->connection = new MySQLi($a, $b, $c, $d) ;
  }

  public function connectionAvailable(){
    return ($connection && $connection->ping()) ;
  }
}