file_get_contents, cURL & header("Location

[kid85]

A.)

I've read in this article that file_get_contents is deprecated in favor of cURL. Is this true ? Is this only for fetching files in another web or for fetching my own files as well ?

 

http://wiki.ittoolbox.com/index.php/Switch_from_file_get_contents_to_curl

 

B.)

Also, I would like to know which is the best practice for redirection (I know there are countless other ways but lets focus on PHP). Any advantages or disadvantages for each ?

1.

header("Location: http://www.somesite.com");

2.

$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "http://www.somesite.com");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, 1);
curl_exec($ch);

[sKunKbad]

For me I use cURL only for posting form data to processing scripts and online databases. I know there are other uses for it, but I wouldn't use it for a redirect. I think using the header() method is the standard.