Inserting records with INSERT

Learn to insert a new record with PDO and a prepared statement.

Inserting a new record with INSERT

To add a new record you run an SQL INSERT with a prepared statement. First prepare() builds the query template; the ? marks are parameter slots.

Then execute() passes the parameters as an array and runs the query. This approach is safe against SQL injection.

To get the new record's ID, call lastInsertId(); it returns the latest value of the AUTOINCREMENT column.

execute() parameters

In a prepared statement the ? placeholders take parameters in order. execute() accepts an array; the values must match the slot order.

For example, in INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?) the first ? is name and the second is email.

PDO binds the values safely; you do not deal with quotes or escaping.

Exercise Insert a new user and print the ID

In the skeleton below, use prepare, execute and lastInsertId to insert a new record with 'Alex', 'alex@example.com' and print the new ID.

Show example solution

<?php
$pdo = new PDO('sqlite::memory:');
$pdo->exec("CREATE TABLE users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, name TEXT, email TEXT)");
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?)");
$stmt->execute(['Alex', 'alex@example.com']);
echo $pdo->lastInsertId() . "\n";

Test yourself

Which method returns the ID of the newly inserted record?
- prepare()
- lastInsertId()
- fetchColumn()
- rowCount()
Show answer

lastInsertId() — lastInsertId() returns the new AUTOINCREMENT ID.

Run the prepared statement

$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?)");
$stmt->____(['Alex', 'alex@example.com']);

Show answer

$stmt = $pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?)");
$stmt->execute(['Alex', 'alex@example.com']);

Match PDO methods to their roles

prepare()

Prepares the statement
execute()

Runs the statement
lastInsertId()

Returns the new ID
query()

Runs a query directly

Next lesson: Reading records with SELECT

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