What are some potential pitfalls of encrypting PHP source code for server execution?

One potential pitfall of encrypting PHP source code for server execution is that it can make debugging and troubleshooting more difficult, as the code is not easily readable or accessible. Additionally, encrypted code may be more vulnerable to security risks if the encryption method used is not secure. It can also make it challenging to collaborate with other developers or update the code in the future. To mitigate these issues, one approach is to use PHP obfuscation techniques instead of encryption. Obfuscation can make the code harder to understand but still allows for debugging and updating the code more easily.

// Example of PHP obfuscation using base64_encode
$source_code = '<?php echo "Hello, World!"; ?>';
$obfuscated_code = base64_encode($source_code);

// To execute the obfuscated code
eval(base64_decode($obfuscated_code));