What are best practices for handling errors and displaying error messages in PHP forms?

When handling errors in PHP forms, it is important to validate user input to prevent malicious attacks and ensure data integrity. Displaying clear and informative error messages can help users understand what went wrong and how to correct it. Utilizing PHP's built-in functions for error handling, such as using try-catch blocks and custom error handling functions, can streamline the process and make debugging easier. 

// Example of handling errors and displaying error messages in a PHP form

// Validate form data
if($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    $name = $_POST["name"];
    
    // Check if name is empty
    if(empty($name)) {
        $error_message = "Name is required";
    }
    
    // Display error message
    if(isset($error_message)) {
        echo "<p style='color: red;'>Error: $error_message</p>";
    } else {
        // Process form data
        // Add code here to handle form submission
    }
}

Keywords

try-catch error handling validation error messages form submission

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