How can PHP beginners effectively handle user sessions for data storage and retrieval in a database-driven application?

PHP beginners can effectively handle user sessions for data storage and retrieval by utilizing PHP's built-in session handling functions. These functions allow developers to store and retrieve data for each user session, making it easy to maintain user-specific information throughout a user's interaction with the application. By storing session data in a database, developers can ensure that user information is persistent and can be accessed across multiple pages.

// Start the session
session_start();

// Set session variables
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 123;
$_SESSION['username'] = 'john_doe';

// Retrieve session variables
$user_id = $_SESSION['user_id'];
$username = $_SESSION['username'];

// Store session data in a database
// Connect to the database
$connection = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database');

// Prepare and execute a query to store session data
$query = "INSERT INTO sessions (user_id, username) VALUES ('$user_id', '$username')";
mysqli_query($connection, $query);