How can PHP functions like fopen, file_get_contents, and file_put_contents be used effectively for file manipulation tasks?

PHP functions like fopen, file_get_contents, and file_put_contents can be used effectively for file manipulation tasks by providing easy ways to open, read, and write to files. These functions allow you to perform operations such as reading the contents of a file into a string, writing data to a file, or opening a file for reading or writing.

// Example of using file_get_contents to read a file
$file_contents = file_get_contents('example.txt');
echo $file_contents;

// Example of using file_put_contents to write to a file
$data = "Hello, World!";
file_put_contents('output.txt', $data);

// Example of using fopen to open a file for reading
$handle = fopen('example.txt', 'r');
$file_contents = fread($handle, filesize('example.txt'));
fclose($handle);
echo $file_contents;