What are the differences between reading files locally on the web server with PHP and reading files locally on the client's computer?

When reading files locally on the web server with PHP, the file path will be relative to the server's file system. On the other hand, when reading files locally on the client's computer, you would need to use a file input field in a form to allow the user to upload the file to the server first before it can be read. Additionally, file permissions and security considerations differ between the two methods.

// Reading a file locally on the web server with PHP
$file_path = "/path/to/file.txt";
$file_contents = file_get_contents($file_path);
echo $file_contents;