mysql: dump mysql database or table to a file

i usually use mysqldump to backup databases or to get a snapshot for propagation

to dump mysql database to a file
# mysqldump -u user -p password <database name> > dumpfile

to dump a specific table to a file (in case you want to bakup/propagate just one table)
# mysqldump -u user -p password <database name> <table name> > dumpfile

you can add --opt for optimized dump with 'drop table if exists' etc...

to load mysql dump file
# mysql -u user -p password <database name> < dumpfile