Is the use of PHP-specific functions like password_hash() and password_verify() a concern for cross-platform compatibility with other languages or databases, and are there alternative solutions that may be more universal?

Using PHP-specific functions like password_hash() and password_verify() can be a concern for cross-platform compatibility with other languages or databases because these functions generate hashes in a specific format that may not be easily compatible with other systems. To ensure cross-platform compatibility, it may be better to use more universal hashing algorithms and functions that are supported across different languages and databases.

// Using a more universal hashing algorithm like SHA-256
$password = 'secret';
$hashed_password = hash('sha256', $password);