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The function parse_url() in PHP is designed to break down a URL into its individual components, making it easier for developers to manipulate or retrieve specific parts of a URL. When given a URL, parse_url() analyzes it and returns an associative array containing the various elements such as the scheme (http, https), host, port, user, pass, path, query, and fragment. This functionality is particularly useful when you need to handle different parts of a URL for tasks such as routing, inspection, or composition of URLs.

For instance, if you have a URL like "http://username:password@hostname:9090/path?arg=value#anchor", using parse_url() will decompose it into meaningful segments. Such granularity allows effective manipulation without the need for complex string operations or regular expressions.

In contrast, encoding or decoding a URL involves converting it into a specific format suitable for transmission over the internet (like transforming spaces into %20), while validating a URL format typically checks its syntax without breaking it into components. Hence, these options do not align with the primary function of parse_url().