What is the purpose of using the Progress Class in PHP and JavaScript for creating a loading bar effect?

When loading large amounts of data or processing tasks that may take some time, it is helpful to provide visual feedback to users in the form of a loading bar. The Progress Class in PHP and JavaScript can be used to easily create and update a loading bar that indicates the progress of the task being executed. This helps improve user experience by showing that the system is working and prevents users from getting frustrated by long loading times.

<?php
// Start a session to store the progress value
session_start();

// Set the total number of steps for the task
$totalSteps = 100;

// Check if a progress value is already set, if not initialize it
if (!isset($_SESSION['progress'])) {
    $_SESSION['progress'] = 0;
}

// Increment the progress value
$_SESSION['progress']++;

// Calculate the percentage completion
$progress = ($_SESSION['progress'] / $totalSteps) * 100;

// Output the progress value
echo $progress;

// Check if the task is completed
if ($_SESSION['progress'] == $totalSteps) {
    // Task is completed, reset the progress value
    $_SESSION['progress'] = 0;
}
?>