What are some best practices for optimizing website loading times with PHP?

One best practice for optimizing website loading times with PHP is to minimize the number of database queries being made. This can be achieved by using caching mechanisms like Memcached or Redis to store frequently accessed data. Additionally, optimizing the code by reducing unnecessary loops, using efficient algorithms, and enabling opcode caching can also help improve loading times.

// Example of using Memcached to cache database query results
$memcached = new Memcached();
$memcached->addServer('localhost', 11211);

$key = 'cached_data';
$cached_data = $memcached->get($key);

if (!$cached_data) {
    $result = // Database query to fetch data
    $memcached->set($key, $result, 3600); // Cache data for 1 hour
} else {
    $result = $cached_data;
}

// Use $result data for further processing