How can the use of classes in PHP improve code organization and maintainability, especially in complex systems like e-commerce platforms?

Using classes in PHP can improve code organization and maintainability in complex systems like e-commerce platforms by allowing you to group related functions and data together. This helps in keeping the code modular and easier to understand, debug, and maintain. Classes also enable you to reuse code more efficiently and scale your application as it grows.

// Example of a class in PHP for managing products in an e-commerce platform

class Product {
    private $name;
    private $price;
    
    public function __construct($name, $price) {
        $this->name = $name;
        $this->price = $price;
    }
    
    public function getName() {
        return $this->name;
    }
    
    public function getPrice() {
        return $this->price;
    }
}

// Create a new product instance
$product1 = new Product("Laptop", 999.99);

// Access the product properties
echo $product1->getName(); // Output: Laptop
echo $product1->getPrice(); // Output: 999.99