What are some best practices for optimizing SQL queries in PHP for better performance?

Issue: Optimizing SQL queries in PHP is crucial for better performance. One way to achieve this is by using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks and improve query execution speed.

// Example of using prepared statements to optimize SQL queries in PHP
// Assuming $db is a PDO object connected to the database

// Prepare a SQL query using a placeholder for the parameter
$stmt = $db->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");

// Bind the parameter value to the placeholder
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);

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

// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll();