PDO (PHP Data Objects) is a database access layer in PHP that provides a consistent interface for accessing databases. It supports multiple database drivers, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and more.

Here is an example of how to use PDO for fast database access in PHP:

1. Connect to the database using PDO:

“`php
$dbHost = ‘localhost’;
$dbName = ‘mydb’;
$dbUser = ‘root’;
$dbPass = ”;

try {
$pdo = new PDO(“mysql:host=$dbHost;dbname=$dbName;charset=utf8”, $dbUser, $dbPass);
$pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);
} catch (PDOException $e) {
die(“Error connecting to the database: ” . $e->getMessage());
}
“`

2. Prepare and execute a query using PDO prepared statements:

“`php
$stmt = $pdo->prepare(“SELECT * FROM users WHERE age > :age”);
$stmt->bindParam(‘:age’, 18, PDO::PARAM_INT);
$stmt->execute();
“`

3. Fetch the results from the query:

“`php
$results = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
“`

4. Close the database connection:

“`php
$pdo = null;
“`

By using prepared statements, you can improve the performance and security of your database queries. Prepared statements allow you to prepare the query once and execute it multiple times with different parameters, reducing the overhead of query parsing and optimizing query execution.

PDO also provides various fetch modes (e.g., FETCH_ASSOC, FETCH_OBJ, FETCH_BOTH) that allow you to retrieve the query results in different formats. You can choose the fetch mode that best suits your needs.

In addition, PDO supports transactions, which allow you to perform multiple database operations as a single atomic unit. Transactions ensure data consistency and integrity by allowing you to roll back changes if an error occurs.

Overall, PDO provides a powerful and flexible API for fast database access in PHP. It is recommended to use PDO for database operations in PHP applications for its performance, security, and cross-platform compatibility.