In what ways can PHP developers improve the security and efficiency of their code when interacting with a MySQL database using PDO prepared statements?

PHP developers can improve the security and efficiency of their code when interacting with a MySQL database using PDO prepared statements by properly sanitizing input data, using parameterized queries, and avoiding dynamic SQL queries. This helps prevent SQL injection attacks and ensures that the code is more maintainable and secure.

// Connect to the database using PDO
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=my_database', 'username', 'password');

// Prepare a parameterized query
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username');

// Bind the parameter values
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username, PDO::PARAM_STR);

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

// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll();