How can memory usage be monitored and analyzed in PHP scripts to identify memory-intensive operations?

Memory usage in PHP scripts can be monitored and analyzed using the memory_get_peak_usage() function to identify memory-intensive operations. By placing this function at strategic points in your code, you can track the peak memory usage during script execution and pinpoint areas that may be consuming excessive memory.

// Start monitoring memory usage
$start_memory = memory_get_peak_usage();

// Perform memory-intensive operations here

// End monitoring memory usage
$end_memory = memory_get_peak_usage();

// Calculate memory usage
$memory_usage = $end_memory - $start_memory;
echo "Peak memory usage: " . $memory_usage . " bytes";