What is the significance of using mysqli or PDO over mysql in PHP for database interactions?

Using mysqli or PDO over mysql in PHP for database interactions is significant because mysql functions are deprecated as of PHP 5.5.0 and removed in PHP 7.0.0. mysqli (MySQL Improved) and PDO (PHP Data Objects) offer more secure and flexible ways to interact with databases, including support for prepared statements to prevent SQL injection attacks. 

// Using mysqli to connect to a MySQL database
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "database";

// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

echo "Connected successfully";

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