How can beginners in PHP distinguish between the use of single quotes and double quotes for strings to optimize their code?
When working with strings in PHP, beginners should understand the difference between single quotes and double quotes. Single quotes are used to create simple string literals where variables and escape sequences are not interpreted. Double quotes allow for the interpretation of variables and escape sequences within the string. To optimize code, beginners should use single quotes for static strings that do not require variable interpolation, as they are slightly faster and have less overhead compared to double quotes.
// Single quotes for static strings
$name = 'John';
// Double quotes for strings requiring variable interpolation
$message = "Hello, $name!";