How can PHP scripts be optimized to efficiently filter and process data from external sources?

To efficiently filter and process data from external sources in PHP scripts, it is important to use built-in functions and methods for data manipulation, avoid unnecessary loops and conditionals, and utilize caching mechanisms to reduce the number of requests made to external sources.

// Example code snippet demonstrating efficient data filtering and processing from an external API using cURL and JSON manipulation

// Initialize cURL session
$ch = curl_init();

// Set cURL options
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, 'https://api.example.com/data');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

// Execute cURL session
$response = curl_exec($ch);

// Close cURL session
curl_close($ch);

// Decode JSON response
$data = json_decode($response, true);

// Filter and process data efficiently
if ($data && isset($data['items'])) {
    foreach ($data['items'] as $item) {
        // Process each item as needed
        echo $item['name'] . ': ' . $item['value'] . "\n";
    }
}