What are the performance benefits of using prepared statements in SQL?

What are the performance benefits of using prepared statements in SQL?

Prepared statements can significantly improve performance by allowing the database to cache the execution plan and reduce parsing time.

How do prepared statements help prevent SQL injection?

They separate SQL code from data, ensuring that user input is treated as data only, not executable code.

Are there any downsides to using prepared statements?

While they are generally beneficial, they can introduce complexity and may not be as efficient for very simple queries.

Can you give an example of a prepared statement in action?

Sure! In PHP, you can use PDO to prepare a statement like this: $stmt = $pdo->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = :id');.