Chris Koerner nobelx@gmail.com writes:
Please don't use W3Schools for PHP information. Information on any PHP keyword can be found by typing "http://php.net/KEYWORD" into your browser's URL bar.
For example, http://php.net/require takes you to a page that clearly explains the difference between the two:
require is identical to include except upon failure it will also produce a fatal E_COMPILE_ERROR level error. In other words, it will halt the script whereas include only emits a warning (E_WARNING) which allows the script to continue.
In the general scheme of things, is one a better practice over the other?
On my sites, I like to know as soon as possible if there is a problem. require() will give an error if a file doesn't exist instead of trying to continue. If a site continues to operate with missing files, you'll probably end up with errors that are harder to diagnose than they need to be.
Mark.