php - file_get_contents or readfile for displaying filesystem image

Question

Can anyone advise on what is the best PHP function for displaying an image stored in a filesystem - file_get_contents or readfile. We are switching from displaying images stored in the database so we still need to call the images through a PHP file and cannot link directly to the filesystem. I've seen people recommending both functions but I'm inclined towards using readfile. Would appreciate any input on this.

Answer 1

If you don't need to manipulate the images (resizing, adding watermarks,...) readfile() will be the best choice as it writes the file directly to the output buffer. file_get_contents() will read the file into memory instead - requiring a lot of memory with large files.