What common pitfalls should beginners be aware of when using PHP to interact with a database like phpmyadmin?

One common pitfall for beginners when using PHP to interact with a database like phpMyAdmin is not properly sanitizing user input, which can lead to SQL injection attacks. To prevent this, always use prepared statements or parameterized queries when executing SQL queries in PHP. 

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

Another common mistake is not handling database connection errors gracefully, which can lead to security vulnerabilities or data loss. Always check for connection errors and handle them appropriately in your PHP code.

```php
// Example of handling database connection errors
try {
    $pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    echo "Connection failed: " . $e->getMessage();
}
```

Lastly, beginners often forget to close database connections after they are done using them, which can lead to performance issues or running out of available connections. Always remember to close the database connection when you are finished with it.

```php
// Example of closing a database connection
$pdo = null;

Keywords

SQL injection PDO prepared statements error handling mysqli.

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