How can PHP mail functions be improved by using classes like phpmailer or swiftmail?

Using classes like phpmailer or swiftmailer can greatly improve the functionality and reliability of sending emails in PHP compared to the built-in mail functions. These classes provide more features such as SMTP authentication, HTML email support, attachments, and better error handling. By utilizing these classes, developers can ensure that their emails are delivered successfully and avoid common issues like emails being marked as spam.

// Example using PHPMailer
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$mail = new PHPMailer(true);

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

    $mail->setFrom('from@example.com', 'Your Name');
    $mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');
    $mail->isHTML(true);
    $mail->Subject = 'Subject';
    $mail->Body = 'Email body';

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