What are the potential issues with using outdated MySQL functions like mysql_set_charset() in PHP for database interactions?

Using outdated MySQL functions like mysql_set_charset() can lead to security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues with newer versions of MySQL. It is recommended to use the mysqli or PDO extensions in PHP for interacting with MySQL databases, as they provide more secure and flexible options for handling database connections and queries.

// Connect to MySQL using mysqli with proper charset setting
$mysqli = new mysqli('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database');
if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die('Connection failed: ' . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Set charset for the connection
$mysqli->set_charset('utf8');