PHP/MySQL: Getting Multiple Columns With the Same Name in Join Query Without Aliases?

The only way to do this without defining aliases is to fetch rows indexed by column position instead of by column name:

$sth->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_NUM);

You could also reduce the work to alias columns by aliasing only the columns that need it:

SELECT *, posts.created_at AS postCreatedAt, posts.updated_at AS postUpdatedAt
FROM `users` LEFT OUTER JOIN `posts` ON users.id=posts.user_id

However, it's generally considered a bad idea to use SELECT * in production code anyway. You don't typically need all the columns, so just fetch those that you do need. This reduces unnecessary waste of bandwidth as you fetch results.

I think alias is perfect in this case

SELECT table1.column AS column1, table2.column AS column2
FROM table1
LEFT JOIN table2
ON table1.column = table2.column

To save you some typing time, use table aliases:

SELECT t1.column AS column1, t2.column AS column2
FROM table1 AS t1
LEFT JOIN table2 AS t2
ON t1.column = t2.column