cURL faster than file_get_contents in PHP
Nowadays the most common way to pass data between systems is making calls to REST APIs. In PHP there are several way to call an API, most common being cURL and file_get_contents(). These might seem equivalent, but has noticeably difference the biggest being the speed.
| file_get_contents() Method | cURL |
|---|---|
| Supports simple HTTP GET and HTTP POST operations. | Supports HTTP PUT, certificates in addition to GET and POST requests. |
| Handles simple HTTP communications. | Handles complex HTTP communications. |
| Doesn’t support caching, cookies, etc. | Supports caching, cookies progress reporting etc. |
| Slow in operation. | Secure and fast in operation. |
| It can be used to read the file content. | It can be used to read, edit, update, delete files from server. |
| It uses HTTP and HTTPS protocols for communications. | It uses HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS protocols. |
| Easy to understand. | Complex to understand. |