How can constants be effectively utilized in PHP to improve code readability and maintainability?

Using constants in PHP can improve code readability and maintainability by providing meaningful names for values that are used multiple times throughout the code. Constants can help make the code more self-documenting and easier to understand, as well as prevent accidental changes to important values. To effectively utilize constants, define them at the beginning of your script or in a separate configuration file, and use them consistently throughout your code.

define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_USER', 'root');
define('DB_PASS', 'password');

// Connect to the database using constants
$connection = mysqli_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASS);