In what scenarios would it be more beneficial to use a pre-existing library or class for handling IRC connections in PHP, rather than writing custom code?

When handling IRC connections in PHP, it is more beneficial to use a pre-existing library or class rather than writing custom code if you want to save time and effort in developing and maintaining your IRC functionality. Using a library can provide you with tested and reliable solutions, as well as access to additional features and functionalities that may not be readily available if you were to write your own IRC connection handling code from scratch.

// Example of using the Phergie IRC client library to handle IRC connections in PHP
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use Phergie\Irc\Client\React\ReactClient;

$loop = React\EventLoop\Factory::create();
$dnsResolverFactory = new React\Dns\Resolver\Factory();
$dnsResolver = $dnsResolverFactory->createCached('8.8.8.8', $loop);

$client = new ReactClient($loop, $dnsResolver);

$client->on('connect.error', function($message) {
    echo 'Error connecting to IRC: ' . $message . PHP_EOL;
});

$client->on('irc.received', function($message) {
    echo 'Received IRC message: ' . $message . PHP_EOL;
});

$client->addConnection([
    'serverHostname' => 'irc.example.com',
    'serverPort' => 6667,
    'nickname' => 'MyBot',
    'username' => 'MyBot',
    'realname' => 'My Bot',
    'channels' => ['#channel1', '#channel2'],
]);

$client->run();