In what scenarios would using SQL databases be more beneficial than storing data in arrays within PHP source code, especially in terms of scalability and ease of updates?

Using SQL databases would be more beneficial than storing data in arrays within PHP source code when dealing with large amounts of data that need to be efficiently queried, updated, and managed. SQL databases offer features such as indexing, data integrity constraints, and query optimization, which can greatly improve performance and scalability. Additionally, SQL databases provide a structured way to organize data, making it easier to update and maintain data consistency.

// Connect to the SQL database
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "database";

$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

// Query data from the database
$sql = "SELECT * FROM table";
$result = $conn->query($sql);

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    // Output data of each row
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        echo "id: " . $row["id"]. " - Name: " . $row["name"]. "<br>";
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

$conn->close();