What best practices should be followed when upgrading PHP versions to ensure compatibility with MySQLi and native drivers like mysqlnd?

When upgrading PHP versions to ensure compatibility with MySQLi and native drivers like mysqlnd, it is important to update your code to use the MySQLi extension instead of the deprecated MySQL extension. This involves changing your database connection and query functions to use MySQLi functions. Additionally, make sure to test your code thoroughly after the upgrade to catch any potential issues.

// Before upgrading PHP version
$conn = mysql_connect('localhost', 'username', 'password');
mysql_select_db('database', $conn);
$result = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM table', $conn);

// After upgrading PHP version
$conn = mysqli_connect('localhost', 'username', 'password', 'database');
$result = mysqli_query($conn, 'SELECT * FROM table');