What common mistakes should be avoided when writing PHP scripts for saving data to a MySQL database?

One common mistake to avoid when writing PHP scripts for saving data to a MySQL database is not properly sanitizing user input, which can leave your application vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. To solve this issue, always use prepared statements or parameterized queries to securely insert data into your database.

// Establish a connection to the MySQL database
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Prepare a SQL statement with placeholders
$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2) VALUES (?, ?)");

// Bind parameters to the placeholders
$stmt->bind_param("ss", $value1, $value2);

// Set the values of the parameters
$value1 = $_POST['input1'];
$value2 = $_POST['input2'];

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

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