How can PHP developers ensure that sensitive database parameters are not exposed to users in the code or URLs?

Sensitive database parameters should never be hard-coded directly in the code or passed through URLs, as this can expose them to users and pose a security risk. Instead, developers should store these parameters in a separate configuration file outside of the web root directory and include this file in their PHP scripts. This way, the parameters are kept secure and not exposed to users. 

// config.php file outside of web root directory
<?php
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_USER', 'username');
define('DB_PASS', 'password');
define('DB_NAME', 'database_name');
?>

// index.php file within web root directory
<?php
include_once('../config.php');

// Use the defined constants in your database connection code
$conn = new mysqli(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASS, DB_NAME);
?>

Keywords

PHP database security environment variables sensitive information URL parameters

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