In what situations should PHP developers avoid using functions like readfile() and instead opt for alternatives like file() for handling HTML content?
When handling HTML content in PHP, developers should avoid using functions like readfile() when the content is large, as it can consume a lot of memory. Instead, they should opt for alternatives like file() which reads the file into an array line by line, allowing for more efficient memory usage.
// Using file() to read HTML content line by line
$lines = file('example.html');
foreach ($lines as $line) {
echo $line;
}