How can PHP be used to read and write configuration settings from a separate file, such as an INI file?

To read and write configuration settings from a separate file, such as an INI file, you can use PHP's built-in functions like `parse_ini_file()` to read settings from the file and `parse_ini_string()` to write settings to the file. This allows you to easily manage configuration settings in a separate file and modify them without changing the code.

// Read configuration settings from an INI file
$config = parse_ini_file('config.ini');

// Access specific settings
$setting1 = $config['setting1'];
$setting2 = $config['setting2'];

// Modify configuration settings and write back to the INI file
$config['setting1'] = 'new_value';
$config['setting2'] = 'another_value';

// Save updated settings back to the INI file
file_put_contents('config.ini', parse_ini_string($config));