What are the best practices for handling user authentication, session management, and password hashing in PHP to ensure security and prevent login issues like immediate logouts after login?

To ensure security and prevent login issues like immediate logouts after login, it is important to properly handle user authentication, session management, and password hashing in PHP. This can be achieved by implementing secure password hashing algorithms, using secure session management techniques, and validating user credentials correctly before allowing access.

// Password hashing using bcrypt
$password = "password123";
$hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);

// Verifying hashed password
if (password_verify($password, $hashed_password)) {
    // Password is valid
} else {
    // Password is invalid
}

// Starting and managing a secure session
session_start();

// Storing user information in session
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 123;
$_SESSION['username'] = 'john_doe';

// Checking if user is logged in
if(isset($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
    // User is logged in
} else {
    // User is not logged in
}