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.
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 internal component- not just an ordinary function.
Allowing us to edit multiple:
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.
PHP includes also save lines of code, which is great for organization and troubleshooting. It may not actually be saving any performance of the server, but it is still going to benefit the developer more than it will hurt them. PHP includes are great to take out many lines of code and replace them with a single include construct, which, only takes one line to use.
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.
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:
PHP is a great language for web developers to learn, but not only because of time saving constructs such as PHP include. PHP is a very robust and powerful language- and is an industry staple for web designers to learn and use in their works. To stay the top in one's field, they'll need an edge on the rest of their competition. Pick up the intricacies of PHP includes, and a web designer is on their way to success.
