How can beginners differentiate between forums and boards in PHP development?

Beginners can differentiate between forums and boards in PHP development by understanding that forums are typically more focused on discussions and user interactions, while boards are usually centered around specific topics or categories. To implement this differentiation in PHP development, beginners can create separate templates or layouts for forums and boards, customize the functionality and design based on the purpose of each platform, and implement features such as user profiles, threads, and categories accordingly.

// Example PHP code snippet to differentiate between forums and boards

if($platform == 'forum'){
    // Display forum template
    include('forum_template.php');
    // Implement forum-specific functionality
} elseif($platform == 'board'){
    // Display board template
    include('board_template.php');
    // Implement board-specific functionality
} else {
    // Handle other cases or errors
    echo "Invalid platform selected";
}