How can rawurlencode be used in PHP to handle special characters in passwords for authentication?

When dealing with passwords containing special characters in PHP authentication, it is important to properly encode them using rawurlencode to ensure they are handled correctly. This function encodes special characters in a way that is suitable for use in URLs, preventing any issues that may arise from these characters.

$password = "my@password!123";
$encoded_password = rawurlencode($password);

// Now you can use $encoded_password in your authentication process