What is the best practice for ensuring that the header function works correctly in PHP?

To ensure that the header function works correctly in PHP, it is crucial to make sure that no output has been sent to the browser before calling the header function. This is because the header function sends a raw HTTP header to the client, and any output before it will cause the headers to be sent automatically by PHP, leading to potential errors. To prevent this, you can use output buffering to capture any output before sending headers. 

<?php
ob_start(); // Start output buffering

// Your PHP code here

ob_end_clean(); // Clean (erase) the output buffer without sending it

header("Location: http://www.example.com"); // Example of using the header function
exit; // Terminate the script immediately after sending headers
?>

Keywords

header function PHP HTTP headers output buffering Content-Type

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