What are some best practices for efficiently reading and processing files in PHP?

When reading and processing files in PHP, it is important to use efficient methods to avoid performance issues. One best practice is to use file_get_contents() or fopen() for reading files, as they are optimized for file handling. Additionally, consider using fgets() for reading files line by line, especially for large files to avoid memory consumption. Finally, always remember to close the file handle using fclose() after processing the file to release system resources.

// Example of efficiently reading and processing a file in PHP
$file = 'example.txt';

// Using file_get_contents() to read the entire file
$content = file_get_contents($file);
echo $content;

// Using fopen() and fgets() to read file line by line
$handle = fopen($file, 'r');
if ($handle) {
    while (($line = fgets($handle)) !== false) {
        echo $line;
    }
    fclose($handle);
}