PigsHidePies

I was wondering if there was a way to either hide or encrypt the password in a connection request to a mysql database. I am using: @ $db=new mysqli('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database'); This doesnt seem like a good idea to me to have a plaintext password hardcoded into the script. Any alternatives are appreciated. thanks

Hey I'm new to both this forum and PHP in general. I am planning on learning with the main goal of building a content management system for a website. I'm planning on buying two or three books on PHP and MySQL and I really would appreciate it if anyone could give me some suggestions on which books are the best for beginners/intermediates. I know the ins and outs of xhtml and css and have programmed in C in the past though it was a few years ago but I know the basic syntax. I have written some very basic php scripts so far. ie: if statements that just use echo for result. Also, do you think it would be best to get books that are strictly PHP or strictly MySQL rather than those that focus on both? Thanks in advance for the help