How can PHP developers ensure efficient and optimized code when using string manipulation functions like explode?

When using string manipulation functions like explode in PHP, developers can ensure efficient and optimized code by minimizing the number of function calls and avoiding unnecessary operations. One way to do this is by checking if the delimiter exists in the string before calling explode, and only performing the operation if necessary. Additionally, developers can optimize their code by using more efficient alternatives to explode for specific use cases, such as strpos and substr.

$string = "Hello,World,PHP";
$delimiter = ",";
if(strpos($string, $delimiter) !== false){
    $result = explode($delimiter, $string);
    // Further processing of the exploded array
}