What are some common pitfalls when using MySQL functions in PHP scripts?

One common pitfall when using MySQL functions in PHP scripts is not properly sanitizing user input, which can leave your application vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. To solve this issue, always use prepared statements or parameterized queries to securely pass user input to your MySQL queries.

// Example of using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->fetch();