What is the significance of using htmlspecialchars() in PHP form handling?

When handling form data in PHP, it is important to sanitize user input to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. One way to do this is by using the htmlspecialchars() function, which converts special characters like < and > into their HTML entities, ensuring that they are displayed as text rather than interpreted as code by the browser.

// Example of using htmlspecialchars() to sanitize form input
$user_input = "<script>alert('XSS attack!');</script>";
$sanitized_input = htmlspecialchars($user_input);
echo $sanitized_input;