Why is it recommended to use PDO or mysqli instead of mysql_* functions in PHP for database operations?

The mysql_* functions in PHP are deprecated and no longer maintained, making them vulnerable to security risks and lacking modern features. It is recommended to use PDO (PHP Data Objects) or mysqli (MySQL Improved) functions for database operations as they offer better security, support for prepared statements, and are more versatile for connecting to different types of databases. 

// Using PDO for database operations
try {
    $pdo = new PDO("mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase", "username", "password");
    $stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM mytable WHERE id = :id");
    $stmt->bindParam(':id', $id, PDO::PARAM_INT);
    $stmt->execute();
    $result = $stmt->fetch();
} catch (PDOException $e) {
    echo "Error: " . $e->getMessage();
}

// Using mysqli for database operations
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "mydatabase");
if ($mysqli->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $mysqli->connect_error);
}

$stmt = $mysqli->prepare("SELECT * FROM mytable WHERE id = ?");
$stmt->bind_param("i", $id);
$stmt->execute();
$result = $stmt->get_result()->fetch_assoc();
$stmt->close();

$mysqli->close();

Keywords

PDO mysqli mysql_* database operations security.

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