What are common challenges when multiple users are editing a file simultaneously in PHP?

One common challenge when multiple users are editing a file simultaneously in PHP is the risk of data corruption or conflicts when multiple users try to write to the file at the same time. To solve this issue, you can use file locking mechanisms to ensure that only one user can write to the file at a time, preventing conflicts and maintaining data integrity.

$filename = 'example.txt';

$fp = fopen($filename, 'a+');
if (flock($fp, LOCK_EX)) {
    fwrite($fp, "Data to write to the file\n");
    flock($fp, LOCK_UN);
} else {
    echo "Could not lock the file!";
}

fclose($fp);