How can one ensure proper encoding (e.g. UTF-8) in PHP files and database connections to avoid character encoding issues?

To ensure proper encoding in PHP files and database connections, it is important to set the character encoding to UTF-8. This can be done by specifying the charset in the HTML meta tag, setting the charset in the database connection, and using UTF-8 functions for string manipulation. Additionally, it is recommended to save PHP files with UTF-8 encoding to avoid any character encoding issues.

// Set UTF-8 encoding in HTML meta tag
<meta charset="UTF-8">

// Set UTF-8 encoding in database connection
$pdo = new PDO('mysql:host=localhost;dbname=mydatabase;charset=utf8', 'username', 'password');

// Use UTF-8 functions for string manipulation
mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');