What are the potential risks of using eval in PHP for parsing code stored in a database?

Using eval in PHP to parse code stored in a database can pose security risks as it allows for the execution of arbitrary code, potentially leading to code injection attacks. To mitigate this risk, it is recommended to use alternative methods such as json_decode or unserialize for parsing serialized data from the database.

// Example of using json_decode to parse code stored in a database
$data = json_decode($code_from_database, true);
if ($data !== null) {
    // Process the parsed data
} else {
    // Handle parsing error
}