? about file() and open()

From: Sean (D.Sean.Morris_at_gmail.com)
Date: 01/02/05 

Date: 2 Jan 2005 14:56:47 -0800

Was wondering if there was any difference between these two functions.
I have read some text that said file() wasn't introduced until 2.2 and
that it was synonymous with open(). Does this mean that I should be
using file() where I used open() before?

Sean Morris