How can the communication between PHP and JavaScript be optimized for error handling and displaying error messages to users?

To optimize communication between PHP and JavaScript for error handling and displaying error messages to users, you can use AJAX to send error messages from PHP to JavaScript. This allows for real-time error handling without reloading the page. Additionally, you can use JSON to format error messages for easier processing in JavaScript.

```php
// PHP code to handle errors and send them to JavaScript
if($error){
    $response = array('error' => true, 'message' => 'An error occurred.');
    echo json_encode($response);
    exit;
}
```

In the JavaScript side, you can handle the error message received from PHP and display it to the user.