In what situations would it be more appropriate to pre-populate a JavaScript array with PHP data instead of querying the database directly?

When dealing with a large dataset that doesn't change frequently, it may be more efficient to pre-populate a JavaScript array with PHP data instead of querying the database directly every time the page loads. This can reduce the load on the database server and improve the performance of the web application. Additionally, pre-populating the array can be useful when the data needs to be manipulated or displayed in a specific format on the client-side.

<?php
// Fetch data from the database
$data = ['item1', 'item2', 'item3', 'item4', 'item5'];

// Convert data to a JSON string
$json_data = json_encode($data);
?>

<script>
// Pre-populate a JavaScript array with PHP data
var dataArray = <?php echo $json_data; ?>;
console.log(dataArray);
</script>