What are common pitfalls when passing form data from an HTML file to a PHP script for database insertion?

One common pitfall is not properly sanitizing user input, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To solve this, always sanitize and validate form data before inserting it into the database. Another issue is not using prepared statements, which can also leave your application vulnerable to SQL injection. Make sure to use prepared statements to securely insert form data into the database.

// Sanitize and validate form data
$name = filter_var($_POST['name'], FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$email = filter_var($_POST['email'], FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);

// Prepare SQL statement using prepared statements
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (:name, :email)");
$stmt->bindParam(':name', $name);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $email);
$stmt->execute();