In what scenarios would using readfile_chunked() be more beneficial than readfile() for downloading large files in PHP?

When downloading large files in PHP, using readfile_chunked() can be more beneficial than readfile() when dealing with files that are too large to fit into memory all at once. readfile_chunked() reads and outputs the file in smaller chunks, reducing memory usage and allowing for more efficient processing of large files. 

function readfile_chunked($filename) {
    $chunk_size = 1024 * 1024; // 1MB chunks
    $handle = fopen($filename, 'rb');
    if ($handle === false) {
        return false;
    }
    
    while (!feof($handle)) {
        echo fread($handle, $chunk_size);
        ob_flush();
        flush();
    }
    
    fclose($handle);
    return true;
}

$file_path = 'path/to/large/file.zip';
readfile_chunked($file_path);

Keywords

readfile_chunked readfile large files download PHP

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