What common pitfalls should PHP beginners be aware of when writing scripts that interact with a database?

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

// Example of using prepared statements to interact with a database securely
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->execute();