In what ways can using an IDE for PHP development help in avoiding encoding issues like the one discussed in the forum thread?

The encoding issue discussed in the forum thread can be avoided by ensuring that the PHP files are saved with the correct encoding, such as UTF-8 without BOM. Using an IDE for PHP development can help in avoiding such issues by providing built-in tools for managing file encoding, highlighting encoding errors, and automatically converting files to the correct encoding.

<?php
// Ensure that the PHP file is saved with UTF-8 encoding without BOM
// This can be done by configuring the IDE settings or directly saving the file with the correct encoding

// Code snippet here