What is the purpose of using namespaces in PHP?

Using namespaces in PHP serves the primary purpose of avoiding name conflicts in larger applications. As software projects grow in size and complexity, the likelihood of naming collisions increases, especially when integrating third-party libraries or modules that may have classes, functions, or constants with the same names. By utilizing namespaces, developers can encapsulate these elements within a specific context, allowing them to coexist without conflict.

For example, if two classes from different libraries share the same name, wrapping them in different namespaces ensures that they can be referenced distinctly. This drastically reduces ambiguity and enhances code organization, making it easier to maintain and develop the application further.

The other options relate to different aspects of PHP but do not reflect the primary function of namespaces. Loading external files is typically managed by the autoloading mechanisms or include statements. Improving script execution time is more dependent on optimization techniques rather than namespace usage. Array manipulation is a fundamental aspect of PHP's data handling, unrelated to the organizational structure provided by namespaces.