How can the EVA principle be applied to improve the structure and security of the PHP code shared in the thread?

Issue: The PHP code shared in the thread lacks proper input validation and sanitization, making it vulnerable to security risks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks. To improve the structure and security of the code, the EVA principle (Escape, Validate, and Avoid) can be applied. Code snippet:

// Escape: Use htmlspecialchars() function to escape user input before displaying it on the webpage
$user_input = htmlspecialchars($_POST['user_input']);

// Validate: Use filter_var() function to validate user input
if(filter_var($user_input, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
    // Valid email address
} else {
    // Invalid email address
}

// Avoid: Avoid using user input directly in SQL queries, use prepared statements instead
$stmt = $pdo->prepare("SELECT * FROM users WHERE email = :email");
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $user_input);
$stmt->execute();