What are alternative methods to setting chmod permissions to 777 for directories and files in PHP scripts?

Setting chmod permissions to 777 for directories and files in PHP scripts can pose a security risk as it grants full read, write, and execute permissions to everyone. To avoid this, it is recommended to use more restrictive permissions such as 755 for directories and 644 for files. This ensures that only the owner has full control over the files and directories while restricting access to others.

// Set permissions to 755 for directories
$dir = 'path/to/directory';
chmod($dir, 0755);

// Set permissions to 644 for files
$file = 'path/to/file';
chmod($file, 0644);