What are the potential pitfalls of using the MySQL extension in PHP for database queries, and what alternative should be considered?

Using the MySQL extension in PHP for database queries is not recommended as it is deprecated and no longer maintained. This can lead to security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues with newer versions of MySQL. Instead, developers should consider using either the MySQLi or PDO extensions for safer and more reliable database interactions.

// Using MySQLi extension for database queries
$mysqli = new mysqli('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database');

if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die('Connection failed: ' . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

// Perform database queries here

$mysqli->close();