I have been using phpmyadmin, since I have been using MySQL. I have always been tweaking and editing it for personalizations and customizations. One thing I think it is badly lacking is *MVC (Model - View - Controller) Architecture.*
Better than porting it OOP, it is better to convert into an MVC Architecture. The reasons why I support MVC Architecture is :
1. Scalabality 2. Code Reuse 3. Integration of various libraries 4. Same application logic can generate various views, i.e., it can be used to generate UI for mobile or for touch-enabled devices
Also, one optional thing to be considered is, while designing the models, it is* important to consider the interactions between the various components*and plan according. The phpmyadmin code is written in a good fashion, but it can be better.
Also,* a good abstraction layer for various other DBMS,* and hence can be extended to other RDBMS.
phpmyadmin, by far, the best database tool I have ever used, I think can evolve into a better and a robust tool for DBMS.
*Summary : * Rather than concentrating into converting the codebase into OOP, it should rather be organized into and *MVC architecture.* There should be a* considerable amount of planning before designing the system*, considering the interactions amongst various models. *A database abstraction layer* can be maintained, in order to extend its capabilities to other DBMS.