What role does the script encoding play in PHP development and how can choosing UTF-8 as the script encoding impact character handling?

Script encoding in PHP development determines how characters are handled within the script. Choosing UTF-8 as the script encoding allows for support of a wider range of characters, including special characters and emojis. This can prevent issues with character encoding and ensure that text is displayed correctly across different platforms.

// Set UTF-8 as the script encoding
header('Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8');

// Example of handling UTF-8 characters
$text = "Hello, 😊";
echo $text;