What are the advantages of using associative arrays in PHP for data manipulation and output?

Associative arrays in PHP are useful for data manipulation and output because they allow you to store key-value pairs, making it easy to access and update specific elements of the array. This can be particularly helpful when working with data that has named attributes or properties. Additionally, associative arrays provide a more intuitive way to organize and retrieve data compared to traditional indexed arrays.

// Example of using an associative array for data manipulation and output
$data = array(
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'age' => 30,
    'email' => 'johndoe@example.com'
);

// Output the name from the associative array
echo "Name: " . $data['name'] . "<br>";

// Update the age in the associative array
$data['age'] = 31;

// Output the updated age
echo "Updated Age: " . $data['age'] . "<br>";