Are there alternative PHP libraries or tools, such as PHPMailer, that can be used to improve email sending functionality and reliability?

When sending emails using PHP, relying solely on the built-in `mail()` function can lead to issues with deliverability and reliability. To improve email sending functionality and reliability, developers can utilize alternative PHP libraries or tools such as PHPMailer. PHPMailer provides a more robust and feature-rich solution for sending emails, including support for SMTP authentication, HTML emails, attachments, and more.

// Include the PHPMailer Autoload file
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

// Create a new PHPMailer instance
$mail = new PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer();

// Set up the SMTP settings
$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = 'your_smtp_username';
$mail->Password = 'your_smtp_password';
$mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
$mail->Port = 587;

// Set the sender and recipient
$mail->setFrom('sender@example.com', 'Sender Name');
$mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');

// Set the email subject and body
$mail->Subject = 'Test Email using PHPMailer';
$mail->Body = 'This is a test email sent using PHPMailer';

// Send the email
if($mail->send()) {
    echo 'Email has been sent successfully';
} else {
    echo 'Email could not be sent.';
    echo 'Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
}