What best practices should beginners follow when working with PHP and MySQL to ensure code efficiency and security?

Beginners working with PHP and MySQL should follow best practices such as using parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection attacks, validating user input to prevent cross-site scripting attacks, and sanitizing data before inserting it into the database to prevent security vulnerabilities. Additionally, beginners should avoid storing sensitive information such as passwords in plain text and should regularly update their PHP and MySQL versions to ensure they are using the latest security features. 

// Example of using parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection attacks
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->execute();

Keywords

PHP MySQL code efficiency security beginners

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