In what scenarios might a user be able to view PHP code in the browser, and how can this be prevented to maintain security?

When a PHP file is not processed by the server, the code is displayed as plain text in the browser, which can expose sensitive information. To prevent this, you can disable the ability to view PHP code in the browser by setting the `expose_php` directive to Off in the php.ini file.

// Disable the ability to view PHP code in the browser
expose_php = Off