Chapter 5. Includes

As PHP projects grow, software design and organization play critical roles in the maintainability of the code. Although opinions concerning best practices are somewhat inconsistent (and a debate about the merits of object-oriented programming often ensues), almost every developer understands and appreciates the value in a modular design.

This chapter addresses security issues related to the use of includesfiles that you include or require in a script to divide your application into separate logical units. I also highlight and correct some common misconceptions, particularly those concerning best practices.

References to include and require should also be assumed to include include_once and require_once.