Are there alternative methods or libraries in PHP that can be used to improve the handling of email errors and bounces?

Handling email errors and bounces in PHP can be improved by using libraries like PHPMailer or Swift Mailer, which provide more robust error handling and bounce management features. These libraries offer better support for handling SMTP errors, detecting bounced emails, and providing detailed error messages for troubleshooting.

// Example using PHPMailer library for sending emails with improved error handling
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$mail = new PHPMailer(true);

try {
    // Server settings
    $mail->isSMTP();
    $mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
    $mail->SMTPAuth = true;
    $mail->Username = 'your@example.com';
    $mail->Password = 'yourpassword';
    $mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
    $mail->Port = 587;

    // Recipient
    $mail->setFrom('from@example.com', 'Your Name');
    $mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');

    // Content
    $mail->isHTML(true);
    $mail->Subject = 'Test Email';
    $mail->Body = 'This is a test email';

    $mail->send();
    echo 'Email sent successfully';
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo 'Message could not be sent. Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
}