What alternative PHP function can be used to read an entire file at once?

When reading an entire file at once in PHP, the `file_get_contents()` function can be used as an alternative to `fread()` or `fgets()`. This function reads the entire contents of a file into a string, making it a convenient way to quickly access the file's contents without needing to manually loop through lines or chunks of data.

// Using file_get_contents() to read an entire file at once
$file_contents = file_get_contents('example.txt');
echo $file_contents;