How can server load be minimized when updating content in real-time with PHP?

To minimize server load when updating content in real-time with PHP, you can implement server-side caching. This involves storing the generated content in a cache and serving it directly from the cache instead of regenerating it every time a user requests the content. This can significantly reduce the load on the server and improve the performance of your application.

// Check if the content is already cached
$cache_key = 'unique_cache_key_for_content';
$cached_content = apc_fetch($cache_key);

// If content is not cached, generate it and store in cache
if (!$cached_content) {
    $content = generate_content(); // Function to generate content
    apc_store($cache_key, $content, 3600); // Cache content for 1 hour
    echo $content;
} else {
    echo $cached_content;
}