What are the best practices for incorporating variables in MySQL commands in PHP?

When incorporating variables in MySQL commands in PHP, it is important to use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks and ensure data integrity. This involves using placeholders in the SQL query and binding the variables to these placeholders before executing the query.

// Example of incorporating variables in MySQL commands using prepared statements
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

// Prepare the SQL query with placeholders
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");

// Bind the variable to the placeholder
$username = "john_doe";
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);

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

// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

// Loop through the results
foreach($results as $row){
    echo $row['username'] . "<br>";
}