In what ways can transitioning from mysql to mysqli or PDO in PHP improve code reliability and maintainability, and what steps should be taken to make this migration smooth and efficient?

Transitioning from mysql to mysqli or PDO in PHP can improve code reliability and maintainability by providing better security features, prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks, and support for transactions. To make this migration smooth and efficient, developers should update their database connection code, convert existing mysql queries to mysqli or PDO syntax, and test thoroughly to ensure the functionality remains intact.

// Before migration
$conn = mysql_connect('localhost', 'username', 'password');
mysql_select_db('database_name', $conn);
$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM table");

// After migration to mysqli
$conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database_name');
$result = mysqli_query($conn, "SELECT * FROM table");

// After migration to PDO
$conn = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=database_name', 'username', 'password');
$stmt = $conn->query("SELECT * FROM table");