What are the benefits of using a PHP email library like phpMailer instead of the built-in mail function?

Using a PHP email library like phpMailer instead of the built-in mail function offers more advanced features, better error handling, improved security, and easier customization for sending emails.

// Include the PHPMailer library
require 'path/to/PHPMailer/PHPMailerAutoload.php';

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

// Set up the email configuration
$mail->isSMTP();
$mail->Host = 'smtp.example.com';
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->Username = 'your@example.com';
$mail->Password = 'yourpassword';
$mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
$mail->Port = 587;

// 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 'Message could not be sent.';
    echo 'Mailer Error: ' . $mail->ErrorInfo;
} else {
    echo 'Message has been sent';
}