What is the purpose of using .htaccess RewriteEngine in PHP web development?

The purpose of using .htaccess RewriteEngine in PHP web development is to allow for URL rewriting, which can help create cleaner and more user-friendly URLs for websites. This can improve search engine optimization and make URLs easier to remember and share. ``` RewriteEngine On RewriteRule ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)$ index.php?page=$1 ```