What are the best practices for handling database connections and queries in PHP when building a dynamic website?

When building a dynamic website in PHP, it is important to properly handle database connections and queries to ensure security, performance, and maintainability. One of the best practices is to use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks and improve query performance. Additionally, it is recommended to establish a separate database connection file and use functions to handle database operations for better code organization and reusability. 

// Establish a separate database connection file
require_once 'db_connection.php';

// Function to handle database queries using prepared statements
function fetchUserData($user_id) {
    global $db_connection;
    
    $stmt = $db_connection->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?");
    $stmt->bind_param("i", $user_id);
    $stmt->execute();
    
    $result = $stmt->get_result();
    $user_data = $result->fetch_assoc();
    
    $stmt->close();
    
    return $user_data;
}

// Example of using the function to fetch user data
$user_id = 1;
$user_data = fetchUserData($user_id);

Keywords

MySQLi PDO prepared statements connection pooling SQL injection

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