What are the advantages and disadvantages of using an endless loop for real-time updates in PHP applications, as discussed in the forum thread?

The issue with using an endless loop for real-time updates in PHP applications is that it can consume a lot of server resources and potentially lead to performance issues. A better approach would be to use WebSockets or server-sent events for real-time updates, as they are more efficient and scalable.

// Example of using server-sent events for real-time updates in PHP

header('Content-Type: text/event-stream');
header('Cache-Control: no-cache');

// Your update logic here
$data = fetchData(); // Function to fetch real-time data

echo "data: " . json_encode($data) . "\n\n";
flush();