Is it recommended to use filter functions in PHP for sanitizing user inputs, and how does this contribute to overall script security?

It is recommended to use filter functions in PHP for sanitizing user inputs as they help validate and sanitize data before using it in your script. This contributes to overall script security by preventing potential security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks.

// Example of using filter_var to sanitize user input
$user_input = $_POST['user_input'];
$sanitized_input = filter_var($user_input, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);