Should I COUNT(*) or not?

Question

I know it\'s generally a bad idea to do queries like this:

SELECT * FROM `group_relations`

But when I just want the count, should I go for this

Answer 1

I know it's generally a bad idea to do queries like this:

SELECT * FROM `group_relations`

But when I just want the count, should I go for this query since that allows the table to change but still yields the same results.

SELECT COUNT(*) FROM `group_relations`

As your question implies, the reason SELECT * is ill-advised is that changes to the table could require changes in your code. That doesn't apply to COUNT(*). It's pretty rare to want the specialized behavior that SELECT COUNT('group_id') gives you - typically you want to know the number of records. That's what COUNT(*) is for, so use it.