In the context of PHP forum development, what best practices should be followed to ensure the correct mapping of data values to database columns during insertion?

When inserting data into a database in PHP forum development, it is important to ensure that the data values are correctly mapped to the corresponding database columns. This can be achieved by using prepared statements with placeholders for the values, binding the parameters to the placeholders, and executing the query. This helps prevent SQL injection attacks and ensures that the data is inserted into the correct columns.

// Assuming $conn is the database connection object

// Prepare the SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2) VALUES (?, ?)");

// Bind the parameters to the placeholders
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $value1, $value2);

// Set the values of the parameters
$value1 = "value1";
$value2 = "value2";

// Execute the query
$stmt->execute();