What are the advantages of using a mailing class like PHPMailer over the basic mail() function in PHP for sending emails?

Using a mailing class like PHPMailer provides several advantages over the basic mail() function in PHP for sending emails. PHPMailer offers better error handling, support for various email protocols (such as SMTP and SSL), easier attachment handling, and built-in security features like SMTP authentication. It also provides more flexibility and customization options for sending emails compared to the basic mail() function.

// Include the PHPMailer Autoload file
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

// Create a new PHPMailer instance
$mail = new PHPMailer();

// Set up the SMTP configuration
$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = 'your@example.com';
$mail->Password = 'yourpassword';
$mail->SMTPSecure = 'ssl';
$mail->Port = 465;

// Set the email content
$mail->setFrom('from@example.com', 'Your Name');
$mail->addAddress('recipient@example.com', 'Recipient Name');
$mail->Subject = 'Subject of the email';
$mail->Body = 'This is the body of the email';

// Send the email
if($mail->send()) {
    echo 'Email sent successfully';
} else {
    echo 'Error sending email: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
}