What are some common beginner mistakes when working with PHP and MySQLi?

One common beginner mistake when working with PHP and MySQLi is not properly sanitizing user input before using it in database queries, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To solve this issue, always use prepared statements and parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection vulnerabilities.

// Incorrect way without sanitizing user input
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password'];

$sql = "SELECT * FROM users WHERE username='$username' AND password='$password'";
$result = $conn->query($sql);

// Correct way using prepared statements
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password'];

$stmt = $conn->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username=? AND password=?");
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $username, $password);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();