How does the concatenation operator in PHP work and why is it preferred over directly placing variable names in strings?

Using the concatenation operator (.) in PHP allows for the combination of strings and variables in a more readable and maintainable way. It is preferred over directly placing variable names in strings because it makes the code easier to understand and avoids potential issues with variable interpolation. By using the concatenation operator, variables can be clearly separated from the surrounding text, making the code more organized and less prone to errors. 

// Example of using the concatenation operator in PHP
$name = "Alice";
$age = 30;

// Concatenating strings and variables
$message = "Hello, my name is " . $name . " and I am " . $age . " years old.";

echo $message;

Keywords

concatenation operator PHP variable names strings efficiency

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