title: Mysql - insert N'...'
body: <p>This is a small mysql question, but I recently found a query that I don't understand while reading a SO question.</p>
  
  <pre><code>mysql_query("SET CHARACTER SET utf8");
  mysql_query("insert into users (username,pass,fname,lname,phone,city) VALUES (N'$email',N'$pass',N'$fname',N'$lname',N'$phone',N'$city')");
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What do the N'...' means is the insert query?
  Does this is required when dealing with UTF8?</p>
  
  <p>If I had to write the same query, I would have written:</p>
  
  <pre><code>mysql_query("insert into users (username,pass,fname,lname,phone,city) VALUES ('$email','$pass','$fname','$lname','$phone','$city')");
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>What is the differences between the two?</p>