What are potential pitfalls when using PHP to update and insert data in a database?

One potential pitfall when using PHP to update and insert data in a database is SQL injection attacks. To prevent this, you should always use prepared statements with parameterized queries to sanitize user input and prevent malicious SQL code from being executed.

// Connect to the database
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

// Prepare a SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES (:username, :email)");

// Bind parameters to the placeholders
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $_POST['email']);

// Execute the statement
$stmt->execute();