What role does the session management code play in maintaining PHP sessions, and how can it be optimized to prevent session loss?

Session management code in PHP plays a crucial role in maintaining user sessions by handling session data storage, retrieval, and expiration. To prevent session loss, the session management code should be optimized by setting appropriate session configuration options, handling session regeneration, and implementing proper error handling mechanisms.

// Optimize session management code to prevent session loss
ini_set('session.gc_maxlifetime', 3600); // Set session expiration time to 1 hour
ini_set('session.cookie_lifetime', 0); // Set cookie lifetime to 0 for session expiration
session_start();

// Regenerate session ID to prevent session fixation
if (!isset($_SESSION['created'])) {
    session_regenerate_id(true);
    $_SESSION['created'] = time();
}

// Handle session errors gracefully
if (session_status() === PHP_SESSION_NONE) {
    // Handle session start error
    echo "Session start failed.";
}