No, you use PDO::quote().

No, you use

  $pdo->prepare("SELECT id FROM foo WHERE bar = ? AND baz = ?")
      ->execute([$baz, $qux]);

...while taking care to set PDO::ATTR_MODE to PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION and PDO::ATTR_EMULATE_PREPARES to false when your PDO object is initialized.

https://github.com/paragonie/airship/blob/8b7edde11b5b57fcb4...

See also: http://stackoverflow.com/a/12118602/2224584

This is the problem I have with PHP. 15 ways to do something seemingly simple, and only one obscure way is correct (What's PDO::ATTR_MODE ?) And why does PDO try to emulate prepares ?

That was 4 ways. The documentation identify what the options do.

Named parameters are much simpler to use IMO.

Simpler? No. Easier? Yes.