How can PHP developers avoid using the SELECT * statement and instead optimize their database queries for better performance?

Using the SELECT * statement in SQL queries can be inefficient as it retrieves all columns from a table, even those that are not needed. To optimize database queries for better performance, PHP developers should explicitly specify the columns they need in the SELECT statement. This can reduce the amount of data retrieved from the database and improve query execution time.

// Instead of using SELECT *
$query = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = 1";

// Optimize the query by specifying only the necessary columns
$query = "SELECT id, username, email FROM users WHERE id = 1";