How can PHP developers optimize the display of pagination links, especially when dealing with a large number of pages?

When dealing with a large number of pages, PHP developers can optimize the display of pagination links by using a dynamic approach that only shows a subset of links at a time, such as showing the current page, a few pages before and after it, and the first and last pages. This helps improve user experience by not overwhelming them with too many links to navigate through.

<?php
function displayPaginationLinks($currentPage, $totalPages, $linkPrefix) {
    $maxLinks = 5; // Maximum number of links to display
    $start = max(1, $currentPage - floor($maxLinks / 2));
    $end = min($totalPages, $start + $maxLinks - 1);

    if ($end - $start + 1 < $maxLinks) {
        $start = max(1, $end - $maxLinks + 1);
    }

    echo '<div class="pagination">';
    for ($i = $start; $i <= $end; $i++) {
        echo '<a href="' . $linkPrefix . $i . '">' . $i . '</a>';
    }
    echo '</div>';
}

// Example usage
displayPaginationLinks(5, 20, '/page/');
?>