In what scenarios can using absolute paths instead of relative paths improve the reliability of file operations in PHP scripts?

Using absolute paths instead of relative paths in PHP scripts can improve the reliability of file operations when the script needs to access files in different directories or when the current working directory is not guaranteed. Absolute paths provide a specific and fixed location for the file, ensuring that the script will always reference the correct file regardless of the current working directory.

// Using absolute path to access a file
$file = '/var/www/html/data/file.txt';

// Read the contents of the file
$contents = file_get_contents($file);

// Display the file contents
echo $contents;