What is the significance of using PDO Prepared Statements in PHP?

Using PDO Prepared Statements in PHP is significant because it helps prevent SQL injection attacks by automatically escaping input parameters. This means that user input is treated as data rather than executable SQL code, making the application more secure. Additionally, prepared statements can also improve performance by allowing the database to optimize the query execution plan.

// Connect to database
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase', 'username', 'password');

// Prepare a SQL statement with a placeholder
$stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username');

// Bind a value to the placeholder
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);

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

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