What are the advantages of using PDO over mysqli_* for processing database queries in PHP?

Using PDO over mysqli_* for processing database queries in PHP offers several advantages such as support for multiple database drivers, prepared statements for preventing SQL injection attacks, and object-oriented approach for easier code maintenance and readability.

// Using PDO to connect to a MySQL database
$dsn = 'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase';
$username = 'username';
$password = 'password';

try {
    $pdo = new PDO($dsn, $username, $password);
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    echo 'Connection failed: ' . $e->getMessage();
}