How can PHP be used to process form data and query a MySQL database efficiently?

To efficiently process form data and query a MySQL database in PHP, you can use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks and improve performance. Prepared statements allow you to separate SQL logic from data input, reducing the risk of malicious code injection and optimizing query execution.

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

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

// Prepare and bind SQL statement
$stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2) VALUES (?, ?)");
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $value1, $value2);

// Set parameters and execute
$value1 = $_POST['value1'];
$value2 = $_POST['value2'];
$stmt->execute();

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