What are some best practices for utilizing the GD library effectively in PHP applications?

Issue: When using the GD library in PHP applications, it is important to follow best practices to ensure efficient and effective image manipulation. This includes properly handling errors, optimizing image processing functions, and using caching techniques to improve performance. Code snippet:

// Example of using the GD library to resize an image with error handling and caching

// Check if GD library is enabled
if (!extension_loaded('gd')) {
    die('GD library is not enabled');
}

// Function to resize an image
function resizeImage($source, $dest, $width, $height) {
    $image = imagecreatefromjpeg($source);
    $resized = imagescale($image, $width, $height);
    
    if ($resized) {
        imagejpeg($resized, $dest);
    } else {
        die('Error resizing image');
    }
    
    imagedestroy($image);
    imagedestroy($resized);
}

// Check if cached image exists
$cachedImage = 'cached_image.jpg';
if (!file_exists($cachedImage)) {
    resizeImage('original_image.jpg', $cachedImage, 200, 200);
}

// Display the cached image
echo '<img src="' . $cachedImage . '" alt="Resized Image">';