How can the MySQL database be configured to properly handle character encoding in PHP applications?

To properly handle character encoding in PHP applications with a MySQL database, it is important to ensure that the database, tables, and columns are set to use the correct character set and collation. This can be done by setting the character set and collation at the database, table, or column level. Additionally, when connecting to the database in PHP, it is important to specify the character set to use for the connection. 

// Set the character set and collation for the database connection
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=my_database;charset=utf8mb4", "username", "password");

// Set the character set and collation for a specific table
$pdo->query("ALTER TABLE my_table CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci");

// Set the character set and collation for a specific column
$pdo->query("ALTER TABLE my_table MODIFY COLUMN my_column VARCHAR(255) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci");

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