What are the advantages of using prepared statements over manual value escaping when inserting data into a database in PHP?

When inserting data into a database in PHP, using prepared statements is preferred over manual value escaping because prepared statements separate the SQL query from the data being inserted, reducing the risk of SQL injection attacks. Prepared statements also provide better performance as the database can optimize the execution plan for repeated executions of the same query with different parameters. Additionally, prepared statements make the code more readable and maintainable.

// Using prepared statements to insert data into a database

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

// Prepare the SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO mytable (column1, column2) VALUES (:value1, :value2)");

// Bind the values to the placeholders
$stmt->bindParam(':value1', $value1);
$stmt->bindParam(':value2', $value2);

// Set the values to be inserted
$value1 = 'John';
$value2 = 'Doe';

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