MySQL and password security

I have a mySQL account at an ISP that I use with PHP. I've protected the directory with the PHP files in it with .htaccess to restrict HTTP users. The thing is, anyone with a legitimate account on the server can simply view the PHP source of all of my files and obtain my mySQL username and password. How can I put the username and password information in a separate file accessible only by myself and the HTTP server? Someone told me I had to do this, but I don't know exactly how to do it because I'm pretty new to PHP and Linux in general. Can someone explain to me exactly the steps I need to take? Andrew Watters awatters@ucla.edu