Why is it recommended to switch to PDO or MySQLi and use prepared statements in PHP?

Using PDO or MySQLi with prepared statements in PHP is recommended because it helps prevent SQL injection attacks by separating SQL code from user input. Prepared statements also improve performance by allowing the database to optimize query execution. Additionally, PDO and MySQLi offer more flexibility and support for different database types compared to the deprecated mysql extension. 

// Using PDO with prepared statements
$pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");

$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = :username");
$stmt->bindParam(':username', $username);
$stmt->execute();

// Using MySQLi with prepared statements
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "mydatabase");

$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = ?");
$stmt->bind_param('s', $username);
$stmt->execute();

Keywords

PDO MySQLi prepared statements security SQL injection

Related Questions