What are the advantages of using prepared statements over directly inserting values into SQL queries in PHP?

Using prepared statements in PHP offers several advantages over directly inserting values into SQL queries. Prepared statements separate the SQL query logic from the data, which helps prevent SQL injection attacks. They also improve performance by allowing the database to optimize the query execution plan. Additionally, prepared statements make it easier to reuse queries with different parameters, leading to cleaner and more maintainable code.

// Using prepared statements to insert values into a SQL query in PHP

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

// Prepare the SQL query with a placeholder for the value
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO mytable (column1) VALUES (:value)");

// Bind the actual value to the placeholder
$value = 'some value';
$stmt->bindParam(':value', $value);

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