What are best practices for handling serialized data in PHP databases?

When handling serialized data in PHP databases, it is important to avoid storing large amounts of serialized data in a single database field as it can impact performance and make querying difficult. Instead, consider breaking down the serialized data into individual fields or tables to improve efficiency and maintain data integrity.

// Example of storing serialized data in separate fields
$data = ['name' => 'John Doe', 'age' => 30, 'email' => 'john.doe@example.com'];
$serializedData = serialize($data);

// Store serialized data in separate fields
$sql = "INSERT INTO users (name, age, email, serialized_data) VALUES (:name, :age, :email, :serializedData)";
$stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);
$stmt->execute(['name' => $data['name'], 'age' => $data['age'], 'email' => $data['email'], 'serializedData' => $serializedData]);