Why is it important to use fetch methods after executing a query in PHP?

After executing a query in PHP, it is important to use fetch methods such as `fetch_assoc()`, `fetch_row()`, or `fetch_object()` to retrieve the results from the query. These fetch methods allow you to access the data returned by the query and process it further in your PHP code. Without using fetch methods, the query results will not be accessible and you won't be able to work with the data.

// Execute a query
$query = "SELECT * FROM users";
$result = $conn->query($query);

// Fetch and process the results
while ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
    // Process each row of data
    echo $row['username'] . "<br>";
}

// Free the result set
$result->free();