How can the code snippet provided be optimized for better performance and maintainability in PHP?

The code snippet can be optimized by using a prepared statement to prevent SQL injection and improve performance. Additionally, we can separate the database connection logic into a separate function for better maintainability.

// Optimize the code snippet by using prepared statements and separating database connection logic

// Function to establish a database connection
function connectToDatabase() {
    $servername = "localhost";
    $username = "username";
    $password = "password";
    $dbname = "myDB";

    $conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

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

    return $conn;
}

// Query using prepared statement
$conn = connectToDatabase();
$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $username);
$username = "john_doe";
$stmt->execute();

$result = $stmt->get_result();

while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    // Process the retrieved data
}

$stmt->close();
$conn->close();