What is the issue with outputting numbers in PHP, specifically when dealing with whole numbers and floats?

When outputting numbers in PHP, specifically when dealing with whole numbers and floats, the issue arises when floats are output with unnecessary decimal points (e.g., 5.000). To solve this issue, you can use number_format() function to format the number to a specified number of decimal places.

$number = 5.000;
$formatted_number = number_format($number, 0); // Output: 5
echo $formatted_number;