What are common pitfalls when using PHP to connect to a MySQL database?

One common pitfall when using PHP to connect to a MySQL database is not properly handling errors that may occur during the connection process. To solve this, it's important to use error handling techniques such as try-catch blocks to catch any exceptions that may be thrown. Additionally, not securely storing database credentials in the code can pose a security risk. It's recommended to store sensitive information in a separate configuration file outside of the web root. 

<?php
// Database credentials
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "database";

try {
    $conn = new PDO("mysql:host=$servername;dbname=$dbname", $username, $password);
    $conn->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
    echo "Connected successfully";
} catch(PDOException $e) {
    echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}
?>

Keywords

MySQL PHP database connection error handling SQL injection

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