What best practices should be followed when specifying file paths in PHP to avoid errors and ensure proper functionality?

When specifying file paths in PHP, it is important to use the correct directory separators ("/" on Unix-based systems and "\" on Windows) to avoid errors. Additionally, using the PHP constant `__DIR__` to reference the current directory can help ensure that file paths are specified correctly. Finally, always sanitize and validate user input to prevent security vulnerabilities. 

// Using __DIR__ to reference the current directory
$file_path = __DIR__ . '/folder/file.txt';

// Sanitizing and validating user input
$user_input = $_POST['file'];
$validated_input = filter_var($user_input, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);

// Using the validated input in a file path
$file_path = __DIR__ . '/' . $validated_input . '.txt';

Keywords

file paths PHP errors functionality best practices

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