How can the var_dump function be used to debug PHP output and identify hidden characters like tabs?

When debugging PHP output, the var_dump function can be used to display the data type and value of a variable. To identify hidden characters like tabs, you can use var_dump in combination with the PHP function htmlspecialchars to convert special characters to HTML entities for better visibility.

// Example PHP code snippet to debug output and identify hidden characters like tabs
$data = "Hello\tWorld";
var_dump(htmlspecialchars($data));