What are some alternative approaches or functions in PHP that can simplify the process of grouping and displaying data from a database?

When grouping and displaying data from a database in PHP, one alternative approach is to use the `GROUP BY` clause in SQL queries to group data based on a specific column. This can simplify the process of organizing and displaying data in a structured manner. Additionally, functions like `mysqli_fetch_all()` or `PDO::fetchAll()` can be used to fetch all rows from a result set at once, making it easier to iterate over the data and display it.

// Example using GROUP BY clause in SQL query
$query = "SELECT category, COUNT(*) as total FROM products GROUP BY category";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $query);

while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) {
    echo "Category: " . $row['category'] . " - Total: " . $row['total'] . "<br>";
}