Handling HTTP requests in PHP, cURL is suitable for projects that require underlying control and lightweight scenarios, and Guzzle is suitable for projects that pursue development efficiency and maintainability. 1. cURL is a built-in extension of PHP, suitable for scenarios where simple requests and no additional dependencies are required, but the code is cumbersome and error handling is complex; 2. Guzzle is a modern PHP library with good packaging, rich features, and supports PSR standards, which is easy to integrate into large applications or frameworks; 3. The selection basis is project complexity: use cURL for simple scripts, and choose Guzzle when complex systems or advanced functions are required.

In PHP, cURL and Guzzle are the two most commonly used methods. Simply put, if you need more underlying control, use cURL ; if you pursue development efficiency and code maintainability, choose Guzzle .

When should I use cURL?

cURL is an extension of PHP that provides a very low-level API to send HTTP requests. It is installed by default in most PHP environments, suitable for simple request scenarios or when you wish to use without introducing additional dependencies.

For example, you want to send a POST request to an API:

 $ch = curl_init();

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, "https://api.example.com/data");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query([
    'param1' => 'value1',
    'param2' => 'value2'
]));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

echo $response;

The advantage of using cURL is that it is lightweight and does not require additional installation packages, but the disadvantages are also obvious: the code is cumbersome and error handling is complicated, especially when you want to deal with redirection, authentication, upload files, etc., you have to manually configure a bunch of options yourself.

Common precautions:

• Remember to check whether the return value of curl_exec() is false
• Set CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER Otherwise, the result will be output directly.
• If you call the HTTPS interface, you may also need to set CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER (not recommended to set to false)

Guzzle is more suitable for modern PHP development

Guzzle is a powerful and easy-to-use HTTP client library that encapsulates the underlying request logic so you can focus more on business logic than network details. It is a Composer manageable package, so you need to install it first via the command:

 composer requires guzzlehttp/guzzle

Then you can use it like this:

 use GuzzleHttp\Client;

$client = new Client();
$response = $client->post('https://api.example.com/data', [
    'form_params' => [
        'param1' => 'value1',
        'param2' => 'value2'
    ]
]);

echo $response->getBody();

It can be seen that the code is much concise and supports various advanced features, such as middleware, asynchronous requests, automatic JSON parsing, etc.

Advantages summary:

• Clear syntax and easy to read
• Supports PSR standards for easy integration into modern frameworks (such as Laravel)
• The exception mechanism is perfect, debugging is easier
• Built-in common functions (such as query parameters, form submission, JSON data, etc.)

How to choose? Depend on project requirements

If your project is simple, like just a timed script or gadget, then cURL is enough, after all, there is no need to install extras.

However, if HTTP requests are frequently initiated in large applications, or functions such as retry, logging, authentication, asynchronous concurrency are required, Guzzle is obviously more suitable.

For example:

• Make a simple weather interface call → cURL
• Connect multiple third-party services in Laravel and handle exceptions uniformly → Guzzle

In addition, some frameworks (such as Symfony or Laravel) already have built-in support for Guzzle, and it is not consistent to continue using cURL at this time.

In general, whether to use cURL or Guzzle in a PHP project depends on your specific needs. Both can complete tasks, but the applicable scenarios are different. Basically all that is it, just choose a convenient one according to the actual situation.

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