What are the advantages of switching to mysqli or PDO from mysql_ in PHP?

Switching to mysqli or PDO from mysql_ in PHP is important because the mysql_ functions are deprecated in newer versions of PHP and are no longer supported. Using mysqli or PDO provides better security features such as prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks. Additionally, mysqli and PDO offer better support for transactions and error handling.

// Using mysqli
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Using PDO
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=database", "username", "password");
$pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);