What are common pitfalls when validating form data in PHP and inserting it into a database?

One common pitfall is not properly sanitizing and validating user input before inserting it into a database, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To prevent this, always use prepared statements with parameterized queries to securely insert data into the database.

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

// Insert data into the database using prepared statements
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (:name, :email)");
$stmt->bindParam(':name', $name);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $email);
$stmt->execute();