How can the problem of $_SESSION variables being overwritten by normal variables be avoided or mitigated in PHP scripts?

To avoid the problem of $_SESSION variables being overwritten by normal variables in PHP scripts, it's important to always call session_start() at the beginning of every script that uses session variables. This ensures that the session is properly initialized before accessing or setting any session variables.

<?php
session_start();

// Set session variable
$_SESSION['username'] = 'john_doe';

// Access session variable
echo $_SESSION['username'];
?>