How do you handle exceptions in PHP?

Using try, catch, and finally blocks is the established way to handle exceptions in PHP, allowing for structured and effective management of error conditions. This approach enables developers to separate normal program flow from error handling, enhancing code clarity and maintainability.

When an exception is thrown in PHP, execution can be transferred to a catch block where the exception can be processed, logged, or handled appropriately. The try block contains code that may throw an exception, and if an exception occurs, the script stops executing further code within that block and jumps to the associated catch block, which can deal with the exception. The finally block, if used, will execute regardless of whether an exception was thrown or caught, making it suitable for releasing resources or performing cleanup tasks.

This structured error handling is crucial in building robust applications, especially when dealing with unpredictable runtime errors that can disrupt normal execution. In contrast, other options such as using if-else statements or error reporting tools do not provide this level of control or organization over error management, leading to less effective handling of exceptions.