Closing a connection

[netfrugal]

I was wondering why some examples show closing a database connection (mysql_close), while others don't. Is is necessary to close a connection at the end of a script? Are there any possible ramifications if we don't?

That said, I suppose this question could be directed at any form of connection that php opens.

Any ideas?

[NogDog]

Generally speaking, it is not necessary to close connections, file handles, etc., as they will be closed automatically upon script termination. However, it certainly does not hurt anything to close them as soon as you are finished with them, and it could possibly help minimize resource usage on busy servers and/or when running resource-intensive and/or long-running scripts.

[rpupkin77]

It is not a requirement of PHP to close connections, generally speaking however, it is good programming practice.