Are there any specific PHP functions or methods that can help simplify the process of building a tree structure from an existing array in PHP?

Building a tree structure from an existing array in PHP can be simplified by using recursive functions to traverse the array and organize the elements into a hierarchical structure. One common approach is to use a recursive function that iterates over the array elements, creating nested arrays for child elements. This process can be made more efficient and readable by using PHP functions like array_reduce, array_filter, and array_map to manipulate the array elements.

function buildTree(array $elements, $parentId = 0) {
    $branch = [];

    foreach ($elements as $element) {
        if ($element['parent_id'] == $parentId) {
            $children = buildTree($elements, $element['id']);
            if ($children) {
                $element['children'] = $children;
            }
            $branch[] = $element;
        }
    }

    return $branch;
}

// Example usage
$elements = [
    ['id' => 1, 'parent_id' => 0, 'name' => 'Parent 1'],
    ['id' => 2, 'parent_id' => 1, 'name' => 'Child 1'],
    ['id' => 3, 'parent_id' => 1, 'name' => 'Child 2'],
    ['id' => 4, 'parent_id' => 0, 'name' => 'Parent 2'],
    ['id' => 5, 'parent_id' => 4, 'name' => 'Child 3'],
];

$tree = buildTree($elements);
print_r($tree);