How can the presence of HTML tags before setting a cookie impact its functionality in PHP?

If HTML tags are present before setting a cookie in PHP, it can cause headers to already be sent to the browser, which would prevent the cookie from being set successfully. To solve this issue, you should ensure that no HTML tags or output are sent to the browser before setting a cookie.

<?php
ob_start(); // Start output buffering

// Set cookie after ensuring no HTML tags or output before this point
setcookie("cookie_name", "cookie_value", time() + 3600, "/");

ob_end_flush(); // Flush output buffer
?>