What are the advantages of using structured data formats over plain text files in PHP programming?

When working with data in PHP programming, using structured data formats like JSON or XML can offer several advantages over plain text files. Structured data formats provide a standardized way to organize and store data, making it easier to read, write, and manipulate data within your PHP code. Additionally, structured data formats often include built-in methods for parsing and validating data, which can help improve the overall reliability and efficiency of your code.

// Example of reading data from a JSON file and decoding it into a PHP array

// Read JSON file
$jsonData = file_get_contents('data.json');

// Decode JSON data into PHP array
$dataArray = json_decode($jsonData, true);

// Access data in the array
echo $dataArray['key'];