Identical to file(), except that file_get_contents() returns the file in a string.
file_get_contents() is the preferred way to read the contents of a file into a string. It will use memory mapping techniques if supported by your OS to enhance performance.
Note: This function is binary-safe.
Tip: You can use a URL as a filename with this function if the fopen wrappers have been enabled. See fopen() for more details on how to specify the filename and Appendix I for a list of supported URL protocols.
Note: Context support was added with PHP 5.0.0.
See also: fgets(), file(), fread(), include(), and readfile().