What are the differences between using cURL and file_get_contents in PHP to retrieve and save a file from a URL?

When retrieving and saving a file from a URL in PHP, cURL is often preferred over file_get_contents due to its greater flexibility and functionality. cURL allows for more advanced options such as setting custom headers, handling redirects, and supporting various protocols. On the other hand, file_get_contents is simpler to use but may not offer the same level of control and error handling as cURL. 

// Using cURL to retrieve and save a file from a URL
$url = 'https://example.com/file.zip';
$destination = 'downloaded_file.zip';

$ch = curl_init($url);
$fp = fopen($destination, 'w');

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FILE, $fp);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, 0);

curl_exec($ch);

curl_close($ch);
fclose($fp);
```

```php
// Using file_get_contents to retrieve and save a file from a URL
$url = 'https://example.com/file.zip';
$destination = 'downloaded_file.zip';

file_put_contents($destination, file_get_contents($url));

Keywords

cURL file_get_contents PHP retrieve file save file

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