Why is it essential to have a local web server environment, such as XAMPP, to run PHP code successfully, and how does it differ from simply loading files into a web browser?

Having a local web server environment like XAMPP is essential for running PHP code successfully because PHP is a server-side scripting language. This means that PHP code needs to be interpreted by a server that understands PHP in order to generate the desired output. Simply loading PHP files into a web browser will not work because the browser does not have the capability to interpret PHP code.

<?php
// Your PHP code here
?>