Why is using SELECT * in SQL queries considered bad practice in PHP development?

Using SELECT * in SQL queries is considered bad practice in PHP development because it can lead to inefficient queries and unnecessary data retrieval. It is better to explicitly specify the columns you need in the SELECT statement to improve performance and avoid fetching unnecessary data. By specifying the columns, you can also make your code more readable and maintainable. 

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

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    // Output data
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "Column1: " . $row["column1"]. " - Column2: " . $row["column2"]. " - Column3: " . $row["column3"]. "<br>";
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

Keywords

SQL queries SELECT * PHP development performance security

Related Questions