What are prepared statements in SQL?

What are prepared statements in SQL?

Prepared statements are precompiled SQL statements that can be executed multiple times with different parameters.

Why should I use prepared statements instead of regular SQL queries?

They help prevent SQL injection attacks and improve performance by allowing the database to cache the execution plan.

Can you show me an example of how to use prepared statements?

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

What happens if I don't use prepared statements?

Without them, your application is more vulnerable to SQL injection, which can compromise your database security.