What are some common pitfalls when writing data to a database using PHP forms?

One common pitfall when writing data to a database using PHP forms is not properly sanitizing user input, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To prevent this, always use prepared statements or parameterized queries to safely insert data into your database.

// Establish a database connection
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

// Prepare a SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES (:username, :email)");

// Bind parameters to the placeholders
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $_POST['username']);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $_POST['email']);

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