What are the advantages of using established libraries like Smarty for template manipulation in PHP compared to custom solutions?

Using established libraries like Smarty for template manipulation in PHP offers several advantages over custom solutions. These libraries provide a standardized way to separate business logic from presentation, making code more maintainable and easier to understand. Additionally, they often come with built-in features like caching, template inheritance, and escaping functions that can help improve performance and security.

// Example of using Smarty for template manipulation
require_once('smarty/Smarty.class.php');

$smarty = new Smarty();

$smarty->assign('name', 'John Doe');
$smarty->display('index.tpl');