What are the best practices for handling user input validation and error messages in PHP?

When handling user input validation and error messages in PHP, it is important to validate user input on the server-side to prevent malicious data and ensure data integrity. Use PHP functions like filter_var() or regular expressions to validate input data. When an error occurs, display clear and specific error messages to the user to help them understand what went wrong.

// Example of handling user input validation and error messages in PHP

// Validate user input
$email = $_POST['email'];
if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
    $error = "Invalid email format";
}

// Display error message
if (isset($error)) {
    echo $error;
}