Is the use of cron jobs necessary for maintaining IP blocking functionality in PHP scripts, or are there alternative approaches that can be used effectively?

To maintain IP blocking functionality in PHP scripts without using cron jobs, an alternative approach is to implement a dynamic IP blocking mechanism within the script itself. This can be achieved by periodically checking the list of blocked IPs against the current list of active IPs and removing any expired entries. By incorporating this functionality directly into the script, you can ensure that IP blocking is continuously updated without the need for external scheduling tools like cron jobs.

// Check and remove expired blocked IPs
$blocked_ips = array("192.168.1.1", "10.0.0.1"); // Example list of blocked IPs

foreach ($blocked_ips as $key => $ip) {
    if (is_ip_expired($ip)) {
        unset($blocked_ips[$key]);
    }
}

function is_ip_expired($ip) {
    // Implement logic to check if IP is expired, e.g. based on a timestamp
    return false; // Return true if IP is expired, false otherwise
}