Q:

How does one concatenate database values into a string?

I would like to string together database values into a string.  Something like $a "text" $b.
And then use the entire string as a variable, let's say $c.
Is it better to do this at the database level?  Will php use lots of resources to do this?

A:

Depends on the database, in mysql you can use the function
CONCAT
For example, UPDATE users SET NAME=CONCAT('asd', 'asdfac') WHERE id=2;

A:

perfectly acceptable - calculated or derived field in mysql for example
 select
  c.firstname,
  c.lastname,
  concat(c.firstname, ' ', c.lastname) as fullname
 from
  customer c
 where
  c.cust_id = 1;

