What's the purpose of php encoders if the end-user can't view the php source anyway?

I have a bluehost account and I have the option of using ioncube, source guardian, or neither. What is the benefit of encoding the php if the end-user can't see the source anyway? Are there other benef开发者_Go百科its other then encoding?

Is ioncube preferred to source guardian?

thanks, me

PHP code obfuscation is generally used when you need to license a PHP application to someone else. You don't want the person getting the code to install on their server to be able to easily copy the code.