What are some common pitfalls when working with PHP and MySQL together, and how can they be avoided?
One common pitfall when working with PHP and MySQL together is not properly sanitizing user input before inserting it into the database, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To avoid this, always use prepared statements with parameterized queries to securely interact with the database.
// Example of using prepared statements to avoid SQL injection
// Assume $conn is a valid database connection
// Prepare a statement
$stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO users (username, password) VALUES (?, ?)");
// Bind parameters
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $username, $password);
// Set parameters and execute
$username = "john_doe";
$password = "secure_password";
$stmt->execute();
// Close statement
$stmt->close();