What best practices should developers follow when selecting data from a database in PHP to ensure compatibility with different SQL systems?

When selecting data from a database in PHP, developers should use parameterized queries to prevent SQL injection attacks and ensure compatibility with different SQL systems. By using prepared statements, developers can safely pass user input to the query without the risk of malicious SQL code being executed.

// 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);

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

// Fetch the results
$results = $stmt->fetchAll();