How can PHP developers optimize their code to efficiently convert strings into arrays for better performance?

PHP developers can optimize their code by using the `explode()` function to efficiently convert strings into arrays. This function allows developers to specify a delimiter to split the string and create an array of substrings. By using `explode()` instead of manual string manipulation, developers can improve performance and readability of their code.

$string = "apple,banana,orange";
$array = explode(",", $string);
print_r($array);