What are the best practices for handling database connections in PHP applications?

When working with database connections in PHP applications, it's important to follow best practices to ensure efficient and secure operations. One common approach is to use PDO (PHP Data Objects) for database connectivity, as it provides a secure way to interact with databases and supports multiple database types. Additionally, it's recommended to use prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks and properly handle exceptions to gracefully manage errors. 

// Establishing a PDO database connection
$host = 'localhost';
$dbname = 'database_name';
$username = 'username';
$password = 'password';

try {
    $pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=$host;dbname=$dbname", $username, $password);
    $pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
    echo "Connected successfully";
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}

Keywords

MySQLi PDO connection pooling persistent connections error handling

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