What best practices should be followed when setting up a MySQL database for a PHP application to avoid syntax errors?

When setting up a MySQL database for a PHP application, it is important to properly handle SQL syntax to avoid errors. One way to do this is by using prepared statements with parameterized queries, which helps prevent SQL injection attacks and ensures that user input is properly sanitized.

// Establish a connection to the MySQL database
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "database";

$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

// Prepare and bind a SQL statement using a parameterized query
$stmt = $conn->prepare("INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2) VALUES (?, ?)");
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $value1, $value2);

// Set the values of the parameters
$value1 = "value1";
$value2 = "value2";

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

// Close the statement and connection
$stmt->close();
$conn->close();