What are best practices for handling user authentication in PHP?

Best practices for handling user authentication in PHP involve using secure password hashing techniques, implementing measures to prevent SQL injection attacks, and utilizing session management to track user authentication status.

// Example of secure password hashing using PHP's password_hash function
$password = 'secret_password';
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);

// Example of verifying a user's password using password_verify function
if (password_verify($password, $hashed_password)) {
    echo 'Password is correct';
} else {
    echo 'Password is incorrect';
}