What are the advantages and disadvantages of storing vocabulary data in PHP versus a database for a form-based translation tool?

Storing vocabulary data in PHP arrays can be advantageous for small-scale projects as it is easy to implement and does not require additional setup. However, using a database for storing vocabulary data offers better scalability, organization, and performance for larger projects. In the case of a form-based translation tool, a database would be more suitable for managing and querying large amounts of vocabulary data efficiently.

// Storing vocabulary data in a PHP array
$vocabulary = [
    'hello' => 'Bonjour',
    'goodbye' => 'Au revoir',
    'thank you' => 'Merci'
];

// Using a database for storing vocabulary data
// Connect to database
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "username";
$password = "password";
$dbname = "translations";

$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);

// Query database for translations
$sql = "SELECT english_word, french_translation FROM vocabulary";
$result = $conn->query($sql);

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    while($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        $vocabulary[$row['english_word']] = $row['french_translation'];
    }
} else {
    echo "0 results";
}

$conn->close();