What are the advantages and disadvantages of using file_get_contents in PHP for HTTP requests?

When making HTTP requests in PHP, using file_get_contents can be a simple and convenient way to retrieve data from a URL. However, it has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Advantages: 1. Easy to use and requires minimal code to make a GET request. 2. Supports fetching data from both HTTP and HTTPS URLs. 3. Can be used to fetch the contents of a file or URL into a string variable. Disadvantages: 1. Limited error handling capabilities compared to other HTTP request libraries. 2. May not handle certain edge cases or complex HTTP requests. 3. Not as performant as dedicated HTTP client libraries like cURL.

$url = 'https://api.example.com/data';
$response = file_get_contents($url);

if ($response === false) {
    // Handle error
    echo "Error fetching data";
} else {
    // Process the response
    echo $response;
}