How can PHP developers efficiently handle database connections and queries to avoid performance issues?

To efficiently handle database connections and queries in PHP, developers can use connection pooling to reuse existing connections, minimize the number of queries sent to the database, and optimize database indexes for faster retrieval of data.

// Using connection pooling to reuse existing connections
$connection = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Minimizing the number of queries sent to the database
$query = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE column = ?";
$stmt = $connection->prepare($query);
$stmt->bind_param("s", $value);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();

// Optimizing database indexes for faster retrieval of data
// Add indexes to frequently queried columns
ALTER TABLE table ADD INDEX index_name (column_name);