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

Using a library like phpMailer for sending emails in PHP provides a more robust and flexible solution compared to the built-in mail function. phpMailer offers features like SMTP authentication, HTML email support, attachments, and error handling, making it easier to send complex emails securely. 

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

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

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

$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';
}

Keywords

phpMailer sending emails PHP built-in mail function benefits

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