How can PHP developers optimize their code by avoiding excessive use of escape characters in form elements?

To optimize their code and avoid excessive use of escape characters in form elements, PHP developers can utilize the htmlspecialchars() function to escape special characters in user input before displaying it on the webpage. This helps prevent potential security vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting attacks.

<?php
// Retrieve user input from form
$user_input = $_POST['user_input'];

// Escape special characters in user input
$escaped_input = htmlspecialchars($user_input);

// Display the escaped input on the webpage
echo $escaped_input;
?>