cURL is one of the more useful tools that you can integrate with PHP, allowing you an interface to make all sorts of complicated socket connections simpler than with an fsockopen and some fancy coding on the side. And, with the help of this new tutorial, you can be up and running with it in no time.

curl is the client URL function library. PHP supports it through libcurl. To enable support for libcurl when installing PHP add --with-curl=[location of curl libraries] to the configure statement before compiling. The curl package must be installed prior to installing PHP. Most major functions desired when connecting to remote web servers are included in curl, including POST and GET form posting, SSL support, HTTP authentication, session and cookie handling.

They start off with a simple script, one that connects to a server and gathers up the response. From there, they move onto examples using form fields (POSTing), connecting through a proxy, making a SSL connection, and performing a HTTP connection with authentication.

And these examples are just the beginning of what PHP and cURL can do. Check out the manual for other options as well...

Thanks to PHPKitchen.com for the pointer.