How does the use of arrays impact the efficiency and readability of returning multiple variables from a PHP function?

Using arrays to return multiple variables from a PHP function can improve efficiency by reducing the number of return statements and making the code more readable. By storing all the variables in an array and returning that array, you can easily access and manage the data in a structured way.

function getMultipleVariables() {
    $var1 = 'value1';
    $var2 = 'value2';
    $var3 = 'value3';
    
    return array($var1, $var2, $var3);
}

// Usage
list($result1, $result2, $result3) = getMultipleVariables();
echo $result1; // Output: value1
echo $result2; // Output: value2
echo $result3; // Output: value3