<?php
function get_setting($key, $default = '') {
    global $pdo;
    static $settings_cache = null;

    if ($settings_cache === null) {
        try {
            $stmt = $pdo->query("SELECT setting_key, setting_value FROM settings");
            $settings_cache = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_KEY_PAIR);
        } catch (Exception $e) {
            $settings_cache = [];
        }
    }

    return isset($settings_cache[$key]) ? $settings_cache[$key] : $default;
}
?>