What are the best practices for handling language settings and translations in PHP web development, considering the limitations of setlocale()?

When handling language settings and translations in PHP web development, it's important to consider the limitations of setlocale(), which may not always work as expected across different server configurations. To ensure consistent language switching and translations, a more reliable approach is to use language files and a custom function to load the appropriate translations based on the selected language. 

<?php
// Function to load language translations
function loadTranslations($lang) {
    $translations = [];
    
    // Load language file based on selected language
    $translationFile = 'languages/' . $lang . '.php';
    
    if(file_exists($translationFile)) {
        $translations = include($translationFile);
    }
    
    return $translations;
}

// Example usage
$selectedLanguage = 'en'; // Selected language
$translations = loadTranslations($selectedLanguage);

// Access translations using the loaded array
echo $translations['hello']; // Output: Hello
?>

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