How does the use of regular expressions compare to traditional string manipulation functions in PHP for tasks like removing a specific substring?

Regular expressions provide a more powerful and flexible way to manipulate strings compared to traditional string manipulation functions in PHP. When removing a specific substring, regular expressions allow for more complex pattern matching and replacement options, making it easier to handle various scenarios.

// Using regular expressions to remove a specific substring
$string = "Hello, World!";
$substring = "Hello, ";
$newString = preg_replace("/$substring/", "", $string);
echo $newString; // Output: "World!"