How To Use The PHP Include Statement
The top paid web designers got where they are today because they know how to code quickly, efficiently, and to the requests of their clients. Knowing PHP as a language and using its many functions or constructs is going to be mandatory if one is going to rise to the top. Somewhere along the way, the PHP include command will need to be learned.
The include construct in PHP is actually a lot like a function, but we call it a language construct simply because we view it as a piece of the PHP language. The include construct in particular is going to enable a web developer to include a remote file into the currently running application. It may seem unexciting, but this is a very big time saver.
The PHP include is going to save us time by allowing us to edit multiple files through a single file. If we had a navigation bar that needed changed, we would normally have to go to every page and change it if we were using HTML. But with PHP we can just reference a remote file, and dynamically change each and every page.
Many use the PHP include simply to get better organization- as if commenting one’s code wasn’t enough. PHP includes allow one to cut down many lines of code, but the application won’t be any faster as a result. The contents of the remote file are still being read into the current application upon execution. Just because the code isn’t there doesn’t mean it isn’t processed.
Another good function of the PHP include is to keep things in working order. If an include fails, we are going to get a visible error message. Now this isn’t always a good thing, since some error messages will expose confidential information about the running script. In more precise situations, we would use the require construct to halt the entire script should it not complete correctly.
Because PHP will only function under the PHP extension, web developers should get into the practice of forgetting the HTML extension and switching to PHP. If they don’t, the time will come when they see that PHP is the better alternative, and fixing the extension on hundreds of pages isn’t going to be much fun at that point in time.
Final Thoughts
Knowing how to use the PHP include command and know the theory of the command are two very different things. From here, readers will need to be able to know how to use the command in everyday settings. Consult the Internet for more information on this, and where to find the best PHP include tutorial.
Filed under: Computers & Technology