PDO - real facts and best practice?
Since now I've been using the "older" `mysql` instead of `PDO` and I've seen many recommendations why to switch to `PDO`, however also many different facts (also here on SO), e.g.:

- stating `PDO` is slightly faster/a little bit slower
- saying `PDO` helps prevent SQL-injections, but only if you use prepared queries
- and also saying using prepared queries is bad, as it is damn slow

So, what is actually true? Especially, what are the best practices when using `PDO` and both speed and security matter a lot - how to best protect yourself from SQL injections while still having fast queries?
PDO - real facts and best practice?
===

Since now I've been using the "older" `mysql` instead of `PDO` and I've seen many recommendations why to switch to `PDO`, however also many different facts (also here on SO), e.g.:

- stating `PDO` is slightly faster/a little bit slower
- saying `PDO` helps prevent SQL-injections, but only if you use prepared queries
- and also saying using prepared queries is bad, as it is damn slow

So, what is actually true? Especially, what are the best practices when using `PDO` and both speed and security matter a lot - how to best protect yourself from SQL injections while still having fast queries?