what is faster?

[shedokan]

what is faster? including a lot of small files? or having it all in one big file?

and I don't mean some files aren't used they are all used always.

thanks, I really need a good answer.

[.josh]

If the amount of info is the same (length of file overall) and everything is being included always, I really don't think there's a difference...everything is read and parsed just the same.

 

I mean, that's kind of like saying you need to count 100 pebbles and you have two piles of 100 pebbles one is one giant pile the other is split up into 5's or even individually.  Either way you have to count each pebble.

[MadTechie]

Humm probably one large one.. as it will be shorter as the

include "file1.php";

wasn't added

 

anyways yeah what Crayon Violent said

[shedokan]

so why a script I downloaded includes the same file(which gets something from the database) a lot of times instead of not including it at all?

is it stupidity or really something?

thanks.

[LemonInflux]

Using multiple files can be useful if you want a quick, efficient way of editing code (say, if you have a database file, an authorization file and an error file, you can make changes to each section without having to look through a long code). But really, using multiple files is for organization. If that's not important, make it all one file.

[Darklink]

They say with HTML, that if you include a CSS file it's slower than putting all the CSS in the HTML and the more CSS files you load, the slower the output is.

 

I know it's not PHP, but I reckon it might be similar although if that's the case, it's an incredibly tiny and unnoticeable change.

[.josh]

yeah if you want to nickel and dime it, even though php has to process the same amount of code, doing

 

include "wholefile.php";

 

is physically less than doing

 

include "file1.php";
include "file2.php";
include "file3.php";
include "file4.php";

 

but we're talking 4 small statements vs. 1 small statement here.. I don't think you can even measure the difference in processing time...

 

so why a script I downloaded includes the same file(which gets something from the database) a lot of times instead of not including it at all?

is it stupidity or really something?

thanks.

 

Well I don't think we can really give you a solid answer without more information (like, what script, what file, what code, etc..) but if I had to take a guess I'd say it's probably some kind of resource file that connects to the database that is being included across various pages.  But again, that's just a guess, since I'm not looking at it.

[shedokan]

but the problem is that the script icludes the same file about 3-4 times each page and that file connects to a database and echoes something.

the script doesn't use require_once.

[.josh]

well then (again, just a guess, seeing as how I don't have the script in front of me) I'd say they poorly coded it.

[MadTechie]

but the problem is that the script icludes the same file about 3-4 times each page and that file connects to a database and echoes something.

the script doesn't use require_once.

 

Okay i used include to add functions to my PHP code but you can also just insert HTML..

for example

<font size="2" face="Verdana">
<?php
echo "Username: $UserName";
?>
</font>

 

$UserName = "MadTechie";
I am lazy and have a table and want to add it here<?php include "userdetails.php"; ?>
and here<?php include "userdetails.php"; ?>
etc
etc
and here<?php include "userdetails.php"; ?>

 

I am lazy and have a table and want to add it here<font size="2" face="Verdana"> Username: MadTechie

</font> and here<font size="2" face="Verdana"> Username: MadTechie

</font>

etc

etc

and here<font size="2" face="Verdana"> Username: MadTechie

</font>

 

Thats a possible reason..

 

 

 

Just side tracking for a second..

 

in reply to Darklink post (below) i would like to point out the reason its better to include a CSS file is because when the page loads, it opens 1 connection for each file on the page (but no more than the browser will allow IE6 default is 4), ie CSS/JS/images etc,

 

so if you had one large HTML file with CSS it will be downloaded via 1 connection but if you have HTML & CSS in different files the browser will open 2 connections, that makes downloading quicker but the main reason i find, is that once the files downloaded its cached.. (don't need to download again for awhile)

so if you had a CSS file of 2k and 40 html files each using it.. it will only download it once (depending on the clients browser setup) thus saving you 78k (2k x 40)-2k) of downloads.

PS this doesn't mean add all your CSS code to one file..

 

 

 

They say with HTML, that if you include a CSS file it's slower than putting all the CSS in the HTML and the more CSS files you load, the slower the output is.

 

I know it's not PHP, but I reckon it might be similar although if that's the case, it's an incredibly tiny and unnoticeable change.

[.josh]

Yeah MadTechie I can see how that might be "useful" or at least *more* "useful" but shedokan says that the included file connects to the db and displays something, which I really don't see any kind of good design in doing that.

[MadTechie]

Yeah CV, I totally agree that its highly like it due to bad/lazy programming (Pre-OOP code) someone using the mysql to get the users details (whatever).

 

I have see it done before.

either way it may explain the logic the programmer guy was using