In what ways can the use of regular expressions in PHP functions, like the one shown in the code, impact the overall functionality and reliability of the code?

Using regular expressions in PHP functions can impact the overall functionality and reliability of the code by providing a powerful tool for pattern matching and data validation. However, incorrect or inefficient use of regular expressions can lead to unexpected behavior, performance issues, or vulnerabilities such as denial of service attacks. It's important to carefully test and validate regular expressions to ensure they work as intended and do not introduce any security risks. 

// Example of using a regular expression to validate an email address
$email = "john.doe@example.com";

if (preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$/", $email)) {
    echo "Valid email address";
} else {
    echo "Invalid email address";
}

Keywords

regular expressions PHP functions functionality reliability code impact

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