How can the security and efficiency of PHP code be improved by avoiding the use of select * in database queries?

Using "SELECT *" in database queries can lead to security vulnerabilities and inefficiencies in PHP code. It is recommended to avoid using "SELECT *" and instead explicitly list the columns needed in the query. This helps prevent SQL injection attacks and improves the efficiency of the query by only retrieving the necessary data.

// Avoid using SELECT * in database queries
$query = "SELECT column1, column2, column3 FROM table_name WHERE condition = 'value'";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

// Process the query result
if ($result) {
    while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
        // Process each row
    }
} else {
    // Handle query error
}