What is the alternative to using ereg_replace() in PHP for searching and replacing within a string?

The alternative to using ereg_replace() in PHP for searching and replacing within a string is to use the preg_replace() function. preg_replace() allows for regular expression search and replace operations, providing more flexibility and power compared to ereg_replace().

// Using preg_replace() as an alternative to ereg_replace()
$string = "Hello, World!";
$new_string = preg_replace("/Hello/", "Hi", $string);
echo $new_string; // Output: Hi, World!