What are the best practices for converting ereg_* functions to preg_* functions in PHP?

When converting ereg_* functions to preg_* functions in PHP, it is important to note that the ereg_* functions are deprecated as of PHP 5.3.0 and removed in PHP 7. To convert these functions, you should use the preg_* functions which provide more powerful regular expression capabilities. Simply replace the ereg_* function with the equivalent preg_* function and adjust the regular expression syntax as needed.

// Before conversion
$pattern = '/^[0-9]+$/';
$string = '123';

if (ereg($pattern, $string)) {
    echo 'Match found';
} else {
    echo 'No match found';
}

// After conversion
$pattern = '/^[0-9]+$/';
$string = '123';

if (preg_match($pattern, $string)) {
    echo 'Match found';
} else {
    echo 'No match found';
}