PHP allows you to include files so that page content can be reused many times. There are two ways to include files in PHP.

• include
• require

Advantage

Code Reusability: With the help of include and require construct, we can reuse HTML code or PHP script in many PHP scripts.

PHP include example

PHP include is used to include a file on the basis of a given path. You may use a relative or absolute path of the file. Let's see a simple PHP include an example.

File Name: first_menu.html

<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com">Home</a> |   
<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com/php-tutorial">PHP</a> |   
<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com/java-tutorial">Java</a> |    
<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com/html-tutorials">HTML</a>  

File: myFirst.php

<?php include("first_menu.html"); ?> 

 <h1>This is Main Page</h1>

Output:

Home | PHP | Java | HTML

This is Main Page

PHP require example

PHP require is similar to include. Let's see a simple PHP require example.

File Name: first_menu.html

<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com">Home</a> |   
<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com/php-tutorial">PHP</a> |   
<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com/java-tutorial">Java</a> |    
<a href="http://www.easytolearning.com/html-tutorials">HTML</a>  

File Name: first_require.php

<?php require("first_menu.html"); ?>

 <h1>This is Main Page</h1>  

Output:

Home | PHP | Java | HTML

This is Main Page

PHP include vs PHP require

If file is missing or inclusion fails, include allows the script to continue but require halts the script producing a fatal E_COMPILE_ERROR level error.