What is the purpose of the ceil function in PHP and how can it be used to round numbers up to the nearest integer?

The ceil function in PHP is used to round a number up to the nearest integer. This can be useful when you need to ensure that a number is always rounded up, regardless of its decimal value. To use the ceil function, simply pass the number you want to round up as an argument, and it will return the next highest integer value.

$number = 10.4;
$roundedUp = ceil($number);
echo $roundedUp; // Output: 11