What are the best practices for implementing a PHP chat feature to ensure smooth user experience and data retention?

Issue: Implementing a PHP chat feature requires ensuring smooth user experience and data retention. To achieve this, it is important to use AJAX for real-time messaging, implement proper security measures to protect user data, and store chat history in a database for future reference. Code snippet: 

<?php
// Implementing AJAX for real-time messaging
// chat.php
session_start();
if(isset($_POST['message'])) {
    // Process the message and store it in the database
    echo json_encode(['status' => 'success']);
    exit;
}

// Implementing security measures
// chat.php
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'POST') {
    http_response_code(405);
    exit;
}

// Storing chat history in a database
// chat.php
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=chat', 'username', 'password');
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO messages (user_id, message) VALUES (:user_id, :message)");
$stmt->execute(['user_id' => $_SESSION['user_id'], 'message' => $_POST['message']]);
?>

Keywords

real-time messaging WebSocket data storage user authentication security encryption

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