Are there any potential pitfalls or drawbacks to using PHP functions or solutions found online?

One potential pitfall of using PHP functions or solutions found online is the risk of using outdated or insecure code that could leave your application vulnerable to attacks. It's important to thoroughly review and test any code snippets before implementing them in your project to ensure they meet your security standards.

// Example of securely implementing a function found online
$filtered_input = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'input_field', FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
if ($filtered_input) {
    // Use the sanitized input here
} else {
    // Handle invalid input
}