What are the best practices for establishing a database connection in PHP to avoid errors?

Establishing a database connection in PHP can lead to errors if not done correctly. To avoid issues, it is recommended to use PDO (PHP Data Objects) or MySQLi extension for secure and reliable connections. Additionally, it is important to properly handle exceptions and errors to prevent any potential vulnerabilities.

// Using PDO to establish a database connection
try {
    $pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=my_database', 'username', 'password');
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    die("Error: " . $e->getMessage());
}