What are some alternative methods to cURL for interacting with web content in PHP?

cURL is a popular tool for interacting with web content in PHP, but there are alternative methods available. One common alternative is using the file_get_contents() function to retrieve the content of a URL. This function simplifies the process of making HTTP requests and can be used as a lightweight alternative to cURL.

$url = 'https://www.example.com';
$content = file_get_contents($url);

if($content === false){
    echo 'Error fetching content';
} else {
    echo $content;
}