What are the potential benefits of using mod_rewrite for PHP applications?

Using mod_rewrite for PHP applications can provide benefits such as creating clean and user-friendly URLs, improving search engine optimization by making URLs more readable, and enhancing security by hiding the underlying file structure of the application.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?url=$1 [L,QSA]