What are some alternative approaches to achieving the same outcome as using shell_exec in PHP?

Using shell_exec in PHP can pose security risks as it allows for executing shell commands on the server. To achieve the same outcome without using shell_exec, you can consider using PHP's built-in functions like exec, passthru, or proc_open, which provide more control over the execution of external commands.

// Using exec to achieve the same outcome as shell_exec
$output = [];
exec('your_command_here', $output);
echo implode("\n", $output);