What is the function of the addslashes function in PHP?

The purpose of the addslashes function in PHP is to add a backslash before special characters in a string. This is done to prevent these characters from being misunderstood in certain situations, such as when inserting a string into a database, which could potentially cause syntax errors or security issues.

Special characters include single quotes (‘), double quotes (“), backslashes (\), and null characters. By using the addslashes function, these special characters can be escaped as ‘, “, \, and null. This ensures that when these strings are inserted into SQL statements, they will not be interpreted as special characters, but simply as regular text.

“I cannot wait to see you again.”
“I am eagerly anticipating our next meeting.”

$str = "It's a rainy day.";
echo addslashes($str);

Output:

It\'s a rainy day.