title: SET NAMES utf8 in MySQL?
body: <p>I often see something similar to this below in PHP scripts using MySQL</p>
  
  <pre><code>query("SET NAMES utf8");   
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have never had to do this for any project yet so I have a couple basic questions about it.  </p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Is this something that is done with PDO only?</li>
  <li>If it is not a PDO specific thing, then what is the purpose of doing it?  I realize it is setting the encoding for mysql but I mean, I have never had to use it so why would I want to use it?  </li>
  </ol>