How can the use of double quotes in PHP echo statements affect code readability and maintenance?

Using double quotes in PHP echo statements can make the code harder to read and maintain, especially when dealing with complex strings that contain variables. It can lead to confusion between variables and string literals, making it difficult to identify what parts of the string are dynamic values. To improve readability and maintenance, it's better to use single quotes for echo statements to clearly distinguish between static text and variables.

// Using single quotes for echo statements to improve readability and maintenance
$name = "John";
echo 'Hello, ' . $name . '!'; // Output: Hello, John!