What are the advantages and disadvantages of using get_headers() versus cURL in PHP to check if a link is reachable?

When checking if a link is reachable in PHP, you can use either the get_headers() function or cURL. get_headers() is a simpler and more straightforward way to check the headers of a URL, but it may not work in all cases and can be slower. cURL, on the other hand, is more powerful and flexible, allowing for more advanced requests and error handling, but it requires more code to implement. 

// Using get_headers() to check if a link is reachable
$url = 'https://www.example.com';
$headers = get_headers($url);

if ($headers && strpos($headers[0], '200') !== false) {
    echo 'Link is reachable';
} else {
    echo 'Link is not reachable';
}

Keywords

get_headers cURL PHP link reachability advantages and disadvantages

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