How can the use of PDO in PHP improve the security and efficiency of database interactions compared to mysqli functions?

Using PDO in PHP can improve security and efficiency compared to mysqli functions by providing a more secure way to interact with databases through prepared statements, which help prevent SQL injection attacks. PDO also supports multiple database drivers, making it easier to switch between different database systems without changing the code. Additionally, PDO simplifies error handling and provides a more consistent interface for database interactions.

// Using PDO to connect to a MySQL database
try {
    $pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}