When working on a PHP project like an online shop, what strategies can be employed to handle complex database interactions and queries efficiently?

Complex database interactions and queries in a PHP project like an online shop can be handled efficiently by using techniques like indexing, optimizing queries, caching, and implementing proper database design. By optimizing database interactions, the performance of the online shop can be significantly improved.

// Example of optimizing a database query by adding indexes
// Assuming we have a table called 'products' with columns 'id', 'name', 'price', 'category_id' and 'created_at'

// Create an index on the 'category_id' column to optimize queries that filter by category
$query = "CREATE INDEX idx_category_id ON products (category_id)";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

// Execute the query after adding the index
$query = "SELECT * FROM products WHERE category_id = 1";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

// Fetch and process the results
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    // Process each product
}