What are some common pitfalls when using PHP to interact with databases like MySQL?

One common pitfall when using PHP to interact with databases like MySQL is not properly sanitizing user input, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To prevent this, always use prepared statements or parameterized queries to securely pass user input to the database. 

// Example of using prepared statements to prevent SQL injection
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username');
$stmt->execute(['username' => $username]);
```

Another common pitfall is not handling database connection errors properly, which can result in insecure or unreliable database interactions. Always check for connection errors and handle them gracefully to ensure the stability and security of your application.

```php
// Example of handling database connection errors
try {
    $pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase', 'username', 'password');
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage());
}

Keywords

SQL injection PDO prepared statements error handling data validation

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