How can one effectively improve their PHP skills by participating in online coding challenges and competitions?

Participating in online coding challenges and competitions can help improve PHP skills by exposing developers to a variety of problems and solutions. By solving different coding challenges, individuals can practice their problem-solving skills, learn new techniques, and gain experience in implementing efficient solutions in PHP.

<?php

// Example PHP code snippet for solving a coding challenge
function reverseString($str) {
    $reversed = strrev($str);
    return $reversed;
}

$input = "hello";
$output = reverseString($input);
echo $output; // Output: "olleh"

?>