The PHP Include Construct Easily Explained
Web designers should know by now that they should cut time where they can. This doesn’t mean cut time in the creativity process, but rather in the mundane coding process that requires little expression. One such way to cut corners is to use the PHP include statement, which is going to effectively save an enormous amount of time for coding large projects.
There is a common controversy as to whether or not a PHP include is a function. For the doubters out there, we can confirm that the include statement is indeed not a function, but rather a language construct native to the PHP web development platform. This is because it is an internabl component- not just an ordinary function.
The number one reason to use a PHP include is to save time. As it is said, time is money, and saving time can give way to more work- which means more money. Time is saved with the PHP include since we can use includes to dynamically change multiple pages at once. By referencing a single remote file on each page, we can update every page through one file.
The average “neat freak” will also see benefit from the PHP include statement. PHP includes save many lines of code for those who use them properly. By saving lines of code, it should not be thought that performance is increasing- if anything, it is decreasing. All we are doing is taking out the nonsense code and focusing on other parts of the current application.
While it may not be a targeted benefit, the icing on the cake of using the PHP include command is going to be that it will break an application if something fails in the included file. This may seem like a bad thing, but it lets developers track down problems where timing is key to getting things back up and running. In most cases, however, we are going to use the PHP require command instead.
PHP includes will only work under the PHP extension, so it’s urged that web developers only use the PHP extension if working on a large website. The HTML extension is starting to become less seen, as it will not support the many functions PHP can aid it with. DHTML is an alternative, but where possible all web designers should migrate to the PHP bandwagon. After all, the top paying web design jobs are going to require working knowledge of many systems.
Final Thoughts
Web developers all around the world are getting in on the PHP statement that is saving time for repetitive tasks. To accurately use the command, be sure to brush up on the include statement by reading manuals and documents relating to the include statement. If necessary, look for a few include tutorials to make sure the basics are covered.
Tags: Software
