What is the EVA principle in PHP development and how does it help prevent header-related errors?

The EVA principle in PHP development stands for "Escape, Validate, and Avoid." This principle helps prevent header-related errors by ensuring that all user input is properly sanitized and validated before being used in functions like header() to prevent header injections or other security vulnerabilities.

// Example of implementing the EVA principle to prevent header-related errors
$userInput = $_GET['input'];

// Escape user input to prevent header injections
$escapedInput = htmlspecialchars($userInput);

// Validate user input to ensure it meets expected criteria
if (ctype_alnum($escapedInput)) {
    // Use the validated and escaped input in header() function
    header("Location: /page.php?input=" . $escapedInput);
} else {
    // Handle invalid input
    echo "Invalid input provided.";
}