What is the purpose of using array_slice in PHP and what potential pitfalls should be aware of when using it?

When you need to extract a portion of an array in PHP, you can use the array_slice function. This function allows you to specify the start index and length of the slice you want to extract from the array. However, it's important to be aware that array_slice does not modify the original array but returns a new array with the extracted elements.

// Example usage of array_slice to extract a portion of an array
$array = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
$slice = array_slice($array, 1, 3); // Extract elements starting from index 1 with length 3
print_r($slice); // Output: [2, 3, 4]