In what situations would it be more appropriate to use files instead of sessions for storing data in a PHP application?

Using files instead of sessions for storing data in a PHP application may be more appropriate when you need to store large amounts of data or when you need persistent data that can be accessed across multiple sessions. Files can also be useful for sharing data between different parts of an application or between different users. However, it's important to consider security implications when using files to store sensitive data.

// Storing data in a file instead of using sessions
$data = "This is some data to be stored in a file.";
$file = 'data.txt';

// Write data to the file
file_put_contents($file, $data);

// Read data from the file
$read_data = file_get_contents($file);

echo $read_data;