In what scenarios would it be more efficient to use the parse_ini_file() function in PHP for parsing configuration files, and how does it compare to other methods like preg_match?

When dealing with configuration files in PHP, it is more efficient to use the `parse_ini_file()` function for parsing rather than using regular expressions like `preg_match`. `parse_ini_file()` is specifically designed for parsing INI files, making it more reliable and easier to use compared to regex. It also automatically handles key-value pairs and sections in the configuration file. 

// Example of using parse_ini_file() to parse a configuration file
$config = parse_ini_file('config.ini');

// Accessing values from the parsed configuration
$databaseHost = $config['database']['host'];
$databaseUser = $config['database']['user'];
$databasePass = $config['database']['pass'];

Keywords

parse_ini_file PHP configuration files efficiency preg_match

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