What are the best practices for formatting and storing data in XML files using PHP?

When formatting and storing data in XML files using PHP, it is important to follow best practices to ensure readability, maintainability, and efficiency. One common best practice is to use indentation and line breaks to organize the XML structure clearly. Another important practice is to escape special characters using functions like htmlspecialchars() to prevent parsing errors. Additionally, consider using PHP's built-in SimpleXML extension for easy manipulation of XML data.

// Example of formatting and storing data in XML file using PHP

// Create a new SimpleXMLElement object
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement('<data></data>');

// Add data to the XML structure
$data = $xml->addChild('person');
$data->addChild('name', 'John Doe');
$data->addChild('age', 30);
$data->addChild('email', 'john.doe@example.com');

// Save the XML data to a file
$xml->asXML('data.xml');