Efficient Filtering of Files by Extension in PHP

You're looking to filter files in a directory based on their file extension, specifically .ini files. While scandir() provides a list of all files in a directory, it's not the most efficient approach for filtered retrieval.

Leveraging PHP's glob() Function

To efficiently obtain files with a specific extension, utilize PHP's glob() function. This function employs a pattern-matching mechanism to capture files that match your criteria.

$files = glob("/path/to/folder/*.ini");

Here, the pattern "/path/to/folder/.ini" specifies that the files should match the .ini pattern within the specified directory.

Advantages of glob()

• Efficient: glob() provides an efficient way to filter files without iterating through the entire directory.
• Pattern Matching: It allows flexible pattern matching to filter files based on criteria like file extension, name, or creation date.
• File Attributes: It can also be used to capture file attributes such as size, modification time, and type.

Additional Resources:

• [glob() Documentation](https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.glob.php)