What are common pitfalls to avoid when working with PHP code for websites?

One common pitfall to avoid when working with PHP code for websites is not sanitizing user input, which can leave your website vulnerable to security risks such as SQL injection attacks. To solve this issue, always use functions like `htmlspecialchars()` or `mysqli_real_escape_string()` to sanitize user input before using it in database queries or displaying it on the website. 

// Sanitize user input using htmlspecialchars
$user_input = htmlspecialchars($_POST['user_input']);
```

```php
// Sanitize user input using mysqli_real_escape_string
$user_input = mysqli_real_escape_string($conn, $_POST['user_input']);

Keywords

SQL injection cross-site scripting insecure file uploads outdated PHP versions unvalidated user input

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