How can PHP developers implement input validation and sanitization techniques to enhance the security of their web applications?

Input validation and sanitization are crucial for enhancing the security of web applications developed in PHP. Developers can implement these techniques by using built-in functions such as filter_input() for input validation and filter_var() for input sanitization. By validating and sanitizing user input, developers can prevent common security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and CSRF attacks. 

// Input validation
$username = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'username', FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
$email = filter_input(INPUT_POST, 'email', FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL);

// Input sanitization
$unsafe_input = $_POST['input'];
$safe_input = filter_var($unsafe_input, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

Keywords

input validation sanitization techniques security web applications PHP functions

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