What is the purpose of using file_get_contents to retrieve data from an Instagram account in PHP?

When retrieving data from an Instagram account in PHP, file_get_contents can be used to make a request to the Instagram API and retrieve the necessary data in JSON format. This allows you to access information such as user details, posts, and more from Instagram within your PHP application.

$instagram_api_url = 'https://www.instagram.com/{username}/?__a=1';
$instagram_data = file_get_contents($instagram_api_url);
$instagram_data = json_decode($instagram_data, true);

// Now you can access the Instagram data as an associative array
// For example, to get the username:
$username = $instagram_data['graphql']['user']['username'];