What is the difference between file_get_contents and fread

What is the difference between

$contents = file_get_contents("folder/somefile.txt")

and

$handle = fopen("folder/somefile.txt", "r");
$contents = fread($h开发者_JS百科andle, filesize($filename));
fclose($handle);

in terms of performance, file pointer handling and memory managing ?

And is it true that file_get_contents uses mmap if OS allows it ?

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fread has a limit on how many chars you can read, and its better for parsing data.

file_get_contents has no limit on the input (that I know of). This is used for external API access and such.

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fread() reads binary data, file_get_contents() returns the data as a string.

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Curious results! The file_get_contents() function is supposed to be a wrapper for fopen, but the decoupling of the fopen and fread seems to make performance slower. http://www.ebrueggeman.com/blog/php_benchmarking_fopen