What potential pitfalls should be considered when outputting database entries in rows and columns using PHP?

One potential pitfall when outputting database entries in rows and columns using PHP is the risk of SQL injection attacks if user input is not properly sanitized. To prevent this, always use prepared statements with parameterized queries to safely interact with the database. Another consideration is the performance impact of fetching large datasets, which can be mitigated by limiting the number of rows retrieved or implementing pagination. 

// Example of using prepared statements to safely output database entries in rows and columns

// Establish a database connection
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

// Prepare a statement to select data from a table
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT column1, column2 FROM mytable WHERE condition = :condition");

// Bind parameters
$condition = 'some_condition';
$stmt->bindParam(':condition', $condition);

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

// Output the data in rows and columns
echo "<table>";
while ($row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC)) {
    echo "<tr><td>" . $row['column1'] . "</td><td>" . $row['column2'] . "</td></tr>";
}
echo "</table>";

Keywords

SQL injection data sanitization PDO prepared statements cross-site scripting

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