What are the potential issues with using the deprecated mysql_query function in PHP?

Using the deprecated mysql_query function in PHP can lead to security vulnerabilities due to the lack of prepared statements and potential SQL injection attacks. To solve this issue, it is recommended to use mysqli or PDO extension for database operations, which provide prepared statements and parameterized queries for secure database interactions.

// Connect to database using mysqli
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Check connection
if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Perform a query using prepared statement
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("s", $username);
$username = "example_user";
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result();

// Fetch results
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    // Process results
}

// Close statement and connection
$stmt->close();
$mysqli->close();