What are the potential pitfalls of using var_dump in PHP and how can it affect the output of values?

Using var_dump in PHP can potentially expose sensitive information about your code, such as variable names and paths. To prevent this, you can use the ob_start() and ob_get_clean() functions to capture the output of var_dump without displaying it directly to the user.

ob_start();
var_dump($variable);
$dump = ob_get_clean();
echo htmlentities($dump);