Why is it advised not to use SELECT * in SQL queries in PHP?

Using SELECT * in SQL queries can be inefficient and may return more data than needed, leading to slower query performance and increased bandwidth usage. It is better to explicitly specify the columns you need in the SELECT statement to improve query efficiency and reduce the risk of fetching unnecessary data. 

// Specify the columns you need in the SELECT statement instead of using SELECT *
$query = "SELECT column1, column2, column3 FROM table_name WHERE condition = 'value'";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);

// Process the query result as needed
while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    // Process each row data
}

Keywords

SQL queries SELECT * performance security optimization

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