Table names are plural, field name is singular*
If the table name contains serveral words, only the last one should be plural:
APPLICATIONS
APPLICATION_FUNCTIONS
APPLICATION_FUNCTION_ROLES

<?php
 ... // some code
 $sql = "SELECT * FROM $myVeryBigTable WHERE $myCondition ";
 $rs = mysql_query($sql) or die("Some error occurred with DB: "
   . mysql_error());
 $numRows = mysql_num_rows($rs);
 ... // some code
?>

<?php
 ... // some code<br />
 $sql = "SELECT COUNT(*) AS numRows FROM $myVeryBigTable "
   . "WHERE $myCondition ";
 $rs = mysql_query($sql) or die("Some error occurred with DB: "
   . mysql_error());
 $row = mysql_fetch_array($rs);
 $numRows = $row['numRows'];
 ... // some code
?>