How can the str_starts_with() function be used in PHP to simplify string comparisons?

When comparing strings in PHP, developers often use functions like `substr()` or `strpos()` to check if a string starts with a specific substring. However, the `str_starts_with()` function introduced in PHP 8 simplifies this process by directly checking if a string starts with a specified prefix. This makes the code cleaner and more readable.

// Using str_starts_with() function to simplify string comparison
$string = "Hello, World!";
$prefix = "Hello";

if (str_starts_with($string, $prefix)) {
    echo "The string starts with the prefix.";
} else {
    echo "The string does not start with the prefix.";
}