What is the best practice for handling user authentication and storing user IDs in session variables in PHP?

When handling user authentication and storing user IDs in session variables in PHP, it is best practice to securely hash passwords before storing them in the database, validate user credentials upon login, and store the user ID in a session variable upon successful authentication. This helps to keep sensitive user information secure and prevent unauthorized access to user accounts. 

// Start the session
session_start();

// Validate user credentials (e.g., check username and password against database)
if ($valid_credentials) {
    // Store user ID in session variable upon successful authentication
    $_SESSION['user_id'] = $user_id;
    // Redirect to a secure page
    header("Location: secure_page.php");
    exit();
} else {
    // Display an error message if credentials are invalid
    echo "Invalid username or password";
}

Keywords

user authentication session variables PHP storing user IDs best practice

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