How can beginners in PHP ensure they are following proper SQL syntax when retrieving data records?

Beginners in PHP can ensure they are following proper SQL syntax when retrieving data records by using prepared statements. Prepared statements help prevent SQL injection attacks and ensure that the SQL syntax is correct. By using placeholders in the SQL query and binding parameters to those placeholders, beginners can safely retrieve data records from a database.

// Connect to the database
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase', 'username', 'password');

// Prepare a SQL query with a placeholder
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM mytable WHERE id = :id');

// Bind a value to the placeholder
$stmt->bindParam(':id', $id, PDO::PARAM_INT);

// Execute the query
$stmt->execute();

// Fetch the data records
$data = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);