What best practices should be followed when handling SQL queries in PHP to avoid errors like the one experienced by the forum user in the thread?

The issue experienced by the forum user is likely due to improper handling of user input in SQL queries, leading to SQL injection vulnerabilities. To avoid such errors, it is essential to use prepared statements with parameterized queries in PHP when interacting with a database. This approach helps prevent malicious SQL injection attacks by separating SQL logic from user input data. 

// Establish a database connection
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

// Prepare a SQL statement with a parameterized query
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");

// Bind the parameter value
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username, PDO::PARAM_STR);

// Execute the prepared statement
$stmt->execute();

// Fetch results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

// Loop through the results
foreach ($results as $row) {
    // Process each row as needed
}

Keywords

SQL injection prepared statements PDO error handling parameterized queries

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