What are some common pitfalls to avoid when handling database interactions in PHP?
One common pitfall to avoid when handling database interactions in PHP is not properly sanitizing user input, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To prevent this, always use prepared statements with parameterized queries to securely pass user input to the database.
// Connect to database
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase', 'username', 'password');
// Prepare a statement with parameterized query
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
// Bind the parameter
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);
// Execute the statement
$stmt->execute();
// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll();