How can the use of base64 encoding and decoding be beneficial when handling image data in PHP?
Base64 encoding and decoding can be beneficial when handling image data in PHP as it allows binary data, such as images, to be safely transferred as text. This is useful when sending images over protocols that do not support binary data, such as JSON or XML. By encoding the image data as base64, it can be easily decoded back to its original binary form on the receiving end.
// Encode image data to base64
$imageData = file_get_contents('image.jpg');
$base64Image = base64_encode($imageData);
// Decode base64 image data
$decodedImage = base64_decode($base64Image);
// Save decoded image data to a new file
file_put_contents('decoded_image.jpg', $decodedImage);