In what scenarios would using cURL be more appropriate than file_get_contents for retrieving and saving images in PHP?

cURL would be more appropriate than file_get_contents for retrieving and saving images in PHP when you need more control over the HTTP request, such as setting custom headers, handling redirects, or handling authentication. cURL also allows for better error handling and performance when working with large files or multiple requests.

// Using cURL to retrieve and save an image
$url = 'https://example.com/image.jpg';
$ch = curl_init($url);
$fp = fopen('image.jpg', 'wb');

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FILE, $fp);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);

curl_exec($ch);

if(curl_error($ch)) {
    echo 'Error: ' . curl_error($ch);
}

curl_close($ch);
fclose($fp);