How can developers ensure that their PHP code remains maintainable and easy to understand when working with complex data structures like DOMNode objects?

When working with complex data structures like DOMNode objects in PHP, developers can ensure maintainability and readability by breaking down the code into smaller, more manageable functions, using meaningful variable names, and adding comments to explain the purpose of each section of code. Additionally, utilizing design patterns like the Factory or Adapter pattern can help abstract the complexity of working with DOMNode objects.

// Example code snippet demonstrating how to ensure maintainability with DOMNode objects

// Define a function to create a DOMDocument object and load the XML file
function loadXMLFile($file) {
    $doc = new DOMDocument();
    $doc->load($file);
    return $doc;
}

// Define a function to extract specific information from the DOMNode object
function extractInfoFromNode(DOMNode $node) {
    $info = [];
    
    // Extract information from the node and populate the $info array
    
    return $info;
}

// Main code block
$xmlFile = 'example.xml';
$doc = loadXMLFile($xmlFile);

// Process each node in the DOMDocument
foreach ($doc->getElementsByTagName('node') as $node) {
    $info = extractInfoFromNode($node);
    
    // Process the extracted information
}