which is faster, File_get_contents or cURL?

Write a simple script that makes a function call 1000 times and have one version that does file_get_contents and one version that does curl. Do you memory test at the beginning and end and test the difference. If it's just speed then you can use time() to check that.

your thread title says faster, your post talks about memory so I'm not sure which one (both?) matters to you.

function fgctest(){
//all the file gets contents stuff
}
function curltest(){
// all the curl stuff
}

$fgcTime = time();
for($i=0; $i < 1000; $i++){
   fgctest();
}
echo "<p>fgc time: ". time() - fgcTime;

$curlTime = time();
for($i=0; $i < 1000; $i++){
   curltest();
}
echo "<p>curl time: ". time() - curlTime;

Code (markup):