How can developers differentiate between encryption and checksum generation when using functions like md5() in PHP for password security?

Developers can differentiate between encryption and checksum generation by understanding their purposes. Encryption is used to secure data by transforming it into an unreadable format that can be reversed with a key, while checksum generation, like with MD5, is used to verify data integrity by creating a fixed-size hash value. To enhance password security, developers should use encryption methods like password_hash() instead of checksum functions like md5(). 

// Using password_hash() for password encryption
$password = "secret_password";
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);

// Verifying hashed password
if (password_verify($password, $hashed_password)) {
    echo "Password is correct!";
} else {
    echo "Password is incorrect!";
}

Keywords

PHP md5() encryption checksum password security

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