What considerations should be made when implementing user management and database interactions in a PHP project?

When implementing user management and database interactions in a PHP project, it is important to consider security measures such as input validation, password hashing, and protection against SQL injection attacks. Additionally, you should create separate functions for user authentication, registration, and database queries to ensure modular and maintainable code.

// Example of validating user input and hashing passwords
$username = $_POST['username'];
$password = $_POST['password'];

// Validate input
if (!empty($username) && !empty($password)) {
    // Hash password
    $hashed_password = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
    
    // Store username and hashed password in database
    // $sql = "INSERT INTO users (username, password) VALUES ('$username', '$hashed_password')";
    // mysqli_query($conn, $sql);
} else {
    echo "Please enter a username and password.";
}