Why is it important to use a period instead of a comma for decimal separation in PHP calculations?

When performing calculations in PHP, it is important to use a period (.) instead of a comma (,) for decimal separation. This is because PHP recognizes the period as the standard decimal separator, while the comma is typically used as a thousands separator. Using a comma for decimal separation can lead to unexpected results or errors in calculations.

$num1 = 10.5;
$num2 = 5.5;
$result = $num1 + $num2;
echo $result; // Output: 16