What are some recommended PHP functions or libraries that can simplify the process of parsing and organizing data from external sources for display in a table format?

When working with external data sources, it can be challenging to parse and organize the data in a table format for display on a website. To simplify this process, you can use PHP functions or libraries that are specifically designed for data manipulation and formatting. Some recommended options include the Simple HTML DOM Parser for parsing HTML content, the PHPExcel library for working with Excel files, and the DataTables plugin for creating interactive and searchable tables.

// Example using Simple HTML DOM Parser to parse HTML content from an external source
include('simple_html_dom.php');

$html = file_get_html('http://example.com/external-data');
$table = $html->find('table', 0);

echo '<table>';
foreach($table->find('tr') as $row) {
    echo '<tr>';
    foreach($row->find('td') as $cell) {
        echo '<td>' . $cell->plaintext . '</td>';
    }
    echo '</tr>';
}
echo '</table>';