What are the benefits of using XMLReader over SimpleXML for parsing XML files in PHP?

When parsing large XML files in PHP, using XMLReader is more memory efficient compared to SimpleXML. XMLReader reads the XML file sequentially, allowing you to process the data in chunks without loading the entire file into memory. This is particularly useful when dealing with large XML files where memory consumption is a concern.

$reader = new XMLReader();
$reader->open('large_file.xml');

while ($reader->read()) {
    // Process XML data here
}

$reader->close();