How can PHP developers ensure that HTML code stored in a database is properly displayed on a webpage?

When storing HTML code in a database, PHP developers can ensure it is properly displayed on a webpage by using the htmlspecialchars function to escape special characters and prevent XSS attacks. This function converts characters like < and > to their HTML entity equivalents, ensuring that the HTML code is rendered as intended without being executed as script.

&lt;?php
// Retrieve HTML code from the database
$htmlCode = &quot;&lt;p&gt;Hello, &lt;strong&gt;World&lt;/strong&gt;!&lt;/p&gt;&quot;;

// Display the HTML code on a webpage using htmlspecialchars
echo htmlspecialchars($htmlCode);
?&gt;