In PHP, what are some best practices for efficiently comparing and finding the smallest variable value among multiple variables?

When comparing and finding the smallest variable value among multiple variables in PHP, one efficient approach is to use the `min()` function. This function can take an array of values as input and return the smallest value. By passing all the variables to the `min()` function, you can easily determine the smallest value without having to write custom comparison logic.

$var1 = 10;
$var2 = 5;
$var3 = 8;

$smallest = min($var1, $var2, $var3);

echo "The smallest value is: " . $smallest;