How can the use of short echo tags in PHP impact the readability and maintainability of code?
Using short echo tags in PHP can impact the readability and maintainability of code because it mixes PHP logic with HTML markup, making it harder to distinguish between the two. This can lead to confusion for developers and make it more difficult to debug and maintain the code in the future. To improve readability and maintainability, it's recommended to separate PHP logic from HTML markup by using alternative syntax such as PHP's `echo` or `print` functions.
<?php
// Bad practice using short echo tags
$name = "John";
?>
<h1>Welcome, <?= $name; ?></h1>
<?php
// Good practice using echo function
echo "<h1>Welcome, $name</h1>";
?>