How can grouping by specific columns in SQL queries improve PHP array performance?

Grouping by specific columns in SQL queries can improve PHP array performance by reducing the amount of data returned from the database. By grouping the data at the database level, only the necessary aggregated results are returned to PHP, which can significantly reduce the amount of data that needs to be processed and manipulated in the PHP code. This can lead to faster query execution times and improved overall performance.

// Example SQL query grouping by specific columns
$sql = "SELECT column1, column2, SUM(column3) as total FROM table_name GROUP BY column1, column2";

// Execute the query and fetch the results
$result = $conn->query($sql);

// Process the results in PHP
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    // Process the aggregated data
}