How can passing variables to PHP functions affect the functionality of the code?

Passing variables to PHP functions can affect the functionality of the code if the variables are not properly sanitized or validated before being used within the function. This can lead to security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting attacks. To mitigate this risk, it is important to always sanitize and validate user input before passing it to any PHP function.

// Example of sanitizing user input before passing it to a PHP function
$user_input = $_POST['user_input'];

// Sanitize user input using htmlspecialchars function
$sanitized_input = htmlspecialchars($user_input);

// Pass the sanitized input to a PHP function
myFunction($sanitized_input);

function myFunction($input) {
    // Function logic here
}