In what situations would it be appropriate to request an API from website operators for accessing user data instead of using cURL in PHP?

When accessing user data from a website, it is appropriate to request an API from website operators if they offer one. Using an API provides a structured and standardized way to access data, often with better security measures in place. It also allows for easier integration and maintenance of the code compared to using cURL directly. 

// Using an API to access user data from a website
$api_url = 'https://api.website.com/users';
$api_key = 'your_api_key_here';

$ch = curl_init($api_url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    'Authorization: Bearer ' . $api_key
]);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$data = json_decode($response, true);

// Process the data as needed

Keywords

API cURL PHP user data website operators

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