In what situations should PHP developers consider using Prepared Statements instead of manually escaping characters in SQL queries?
Prepared Statements should be used instead of manually escaping characters in SQL queries when dealing with user input to prevent SQL injection attacks. Prepared Statements separate SQL logic from user input, ensuring that input is treated as data rather than executable code. This approach provides a more secure and reliable way to interact with databases in PHP.
// Using Prepared Statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->execute();