What are the potential pitfalls of using functions like explode and strstr to manipulate strings in PHP?

Using functions like explode and strstr to manipulate strings in PHP can lead to potential pitfalls such as inefficient code that may not handle edge cases properly. It is better to use more robust functions like preg_match or strpos with proper error handling to ensure the code works correctly in all scenarios.

// Example of using preg_match to extract a substring from a string
$string = "Hello, world!";
$pattern = '/Hello, (.*)!/';
if (preg_match($pattern, $string, $matches)) {
    $substring = $matches[1];
    echo $substring; // Output: world
} else {
    echo "Pattern not found";
}