How can PHP be optimized to efficiently handle data storage and retrieval operations from a MySQL database?

To optimize PHP for data storage and retrieval operations from a MySQL database, you can use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks, utilize indexing on frequently queried columns for faster retrieval, and limit the amount of data fetched by using pagination.

// Example of using prepared statements to safely handle data storage and retrieval operations

// Connect to MySQL database
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Prepare a SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT * FROM table WHERE id = ?");

// Bind parameters to the placeholders
$stmt->bind_param("i", $id);

// Set the parameter values
$id = 1;

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

// Bind the result to variables
$stmt->bind_result($col1, $col2);

// Fetch the results
while ($stmt->fetch()) {
    echo $col1 . " - " . $col2 . "<br>";
}

// Close the statement and connection
$stmt->close();
$mysqli->close();