In what situations is it important to prioritize data security and prevent SQL injections in PHP scripts, even in projects meant for demonstration purposes?

It is important to prioritize data security and prevent SQL injections in PHP scripts, even in projects meant for demonstration purposes, as it helps to protect sensitive information and prevent unauthorized access to the database. To prevent SQL injections, developers should use parameterized queries or prepared statements to sanitize user input before executing SQL queries.

// Using prepared statements to prevent SQL injections
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=my_database', 'username', 'password');

$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username');
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);
$stmt->execute();

$result = $stmt->fetch();