[plug] Optimise MySQL query

[nigel at dubh.id.au]

Hi list,

I am counting the total times per month a user is shown in a database with
code similar to the following;

for ($i=1; $i <= 12; $i++)
	$query = "SELECT * FROM $table WHERE MONTH(date) = $i AND user = $user";
	$result = mysql_query ($query, $connection);
	$rows = mysql_num_rows($result);

	switch ($i)
		case "1":
		$jan_total = $rows;
		do other stuff for January
		break;
etc...

Now while this works it seems inefficient as we are querying the database 12
times per user. Can someone suggest a better query to use? Any pointers to
suggested reading would be appreciated.

Thanks

Nigel