What are the best practices for handling email notifications in PHP applications to ensure reliable delivery and avoid common pitfalls like SMTP server restrictions?

When sending email notifications in PHP applications, it's important to ensure reliable delivery and avoid common pitfalls like SMTP server restrictions. One way to achieve this is by using a reliable email service provider with a good reputation for deliverability. Additionally, you can implement proper error handling and logging to track any issues with email delivery.

// Example code snippet using PHPMailer library to send email notifications

use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;

require 'vendor/autoload.php'; // Include PHPMailer autoload file

// Create a new PHPMailer instance
$mail = new PHPMailer(true);

try {
    // Server settings
    $mail->isSMTP();
    $mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
    $mail->SMTPAuth = true;
    $mail->Username = 'your@example.com';
    $mail->Password = 'your_password';
    $mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
    $mail->Port = 587;

    // Recipient
    $mail->setFrom('your@example.com', 'Your Name');
    $mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');

    // Content
    $mail->isHTML(true);
    $mail->Subject = 'Subject of the email';
    $mail->Body = 'Body of the email';

    // Send the email
    $mail->send();
    echo 'Email sent successfully';
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo 'Message could not be sent. Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
}