What best practices should be followed when handling responses from an API after sending a POST request in PHP?

When handling responses from an API after sending a POST request in PHP, it is important to check the response status code to ensure the request was successful. Additionally, you should handle any errors or exceptions that may occur during the request process. It is also recommended to parse the response data according to the API's documentation to extract the necessary information.

// Send POST request to API
$response = curl_exec($ch);

// Check for errors
if($response === false){
    echo 'Curl error: ' . curl_error($ch);
}

// Get response status code
$http_status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);

// Parse response data
$data = json_decode($response, true);

// Handle response based on status code
if($http_status == 200){
    // Request was successful, process response data
    echo 'Request was successful';
} else {
    // Request failed, handle error
    echo 'Request failed with status code: ' . $http_status;
}

// Close curl session
curl_close($ch);