Why is it considered bad practice to use "*" in SQL queries to fetch all columns from a table, and what are the potential drawbacks of this approach in PHP applications?

Using "*" in SQL queries to fetch all columns from a table is considered bad practice because it can lead to performance issues and potential security vulnerabilities. It is better to explicitly specify the columns you need to retrieve to improve query performance and prevent unnecessary data exposure. In PHP applications, fetching only the necessary columns can also help reduce the amount of data transferred between the database and the application, improving overall performance. 

// Specify the columns you want to retrieve instead of using "*"
$sql = "SELECT column1, column2, column3 FROM table_name";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $sql);

if (mysqli_num_rows($result) > 0) {
    while ($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
        // Process the retrieved data
    }
} else {
    echo "No results found";
}

Keywords

SQL queries fetch all columns bad practice potential drawbacks PHP applications

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