In what scenarios would it be more efficient to handle data manipulation in MySQL queries rather than PHP arrays?

When dealing with large datasets, it can be more efficient to handle data manipulation directly in MySQL queries rather than fetching the data into PHP arrays and then manipulating it. This is because MySQL is optimized for data processing and can perform operations much faster than PHP arrays, especially when dealing with complex queries or aggregations. By leveraging MySQL's built-in functions and capabilities, you can reduce the amount of data transferred between the database and the application, leading to improved performance.

// Example of handling data manipulation in MySQL queries rather than PHP arrays

// Connect to MySQL database
$mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", "username", "password", "database");

// Query to calculate the total sales amount for each product
$query = "SELECT product_id, SUM(sales_amount) AS total_sales
          FROM sales_table
          GROUP BY product_id";

$result = $mysqli->query($query);

// Fetch and display the results
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    echo "Product ID: " . $row['product_id'] . ", Total Sales: " . $row['total_sales'] . "<br>";
}

// Close the database connection
$mysqli->close();