What are some best practices for handling user input validation in PHP forms, such as checking for empty fields?

When handling user input validation in PHP forms, it is essential to check for empty fields to ensure that the required data is provided by the user. One way to do this is by using the isset() function to check if the form fields are set and not empty. Additionally, you can use trim() function to remove any whitespace from the input before validating it.

if(isset($_POST['submit'])) {
    $username = trim($_POST['username']);
    $password = trim($_POST['password']);

    if(empty($username) || empty($password)) {
        echo "Please fill in all required fields.";
    } else {
        // Proceed with form submission
    }
}