What steps should be taken to ensure the security and integrity of a PHP application when certain functions are restricted by the hosting provider?

When certain functions are restricted by the hosting provider, it is important to implement additional security measures within the PHP application to maintain its integrity. One way to do this is by using input validation and sanitization to prevent malicious code injection.

// Example of input validation and sanitization
$input = $_POST['user_input'];

// Validate input
if (!empty($input)) {
    // Sanitize input
    $sanitized_input = filter_var($input, FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING);
    
    // Use sanitized input in the application
    // ...
} else {
    // Handle empty input error
    // ...
}