What are the best practices for handling PHP variables in different server environments?

When working with PHP variables in different server environments, it's important to account for differences in configuration that may affect the behavior of your code. One common practice is to use the PHP function `ini_set()` to adjust settings dynamically within your script to ensure consistent behavior across different servers.

// Set a specific PHP configuration option for this script
ini_set('display_errors', 1);
```

Another approach is to use conditional statements to check for specific server configurations and adjust your variables accordingly. This can help ensure that your code behaves as expected regardless of the server environment.

```php
// Check if the server is running in development mode
if ($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'] === 'localhost') {
    $debugMode = true;
} else {
    $debugMode = false;
}