note 62838 added to function.require-once

require_once (and include_once for that matters) is slow. Furthermore, if you plan on using unit tests and mock objects (i.e. including mock classes before the real ones are included in the class you want to test), it will not work as require() loads a file and not a class. To bypass that, and gain speed, I use : <?php class_exists('myClass') || require('path/to/myClass.class.php'); ?> I tried to time 100 require_once on the same file and it took the script 0.0026 seconds to run, whereas with my method it took only 0.00054 seconds. 4 times faster ! OK, my method of testing is quite empirical and YMMV but the bonus is the ability to use mock objects in your unit tests. ---- Server IP: 66.207.199.35 Probable Submitter: 132.216.217.210 ---- X-Spam-Status: No, hits=3.1 required=5.0 tests=DATE_MISSING,FROM_NO_LOWER autolearn=no version=2.64 ---- Manual Page -- http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.require-once.php Edit -- http://master.php.net/note/edit/62838 Del: integrated -- http://master.php.net/note/delete/62838/integrated Del: useless -- http://master.php.net/note/delete/62838/useless Del: bad code -- http://master.php.net/note/delete/62838/bad+code Del: spam -- http://master.php.net/note/delete/62838/spam Del: non-english -- http://master.php.net/note/delete/62838/non-english Del: in docs -- http://master.php.net/note/delete/62838/in+docs Del: other reasons-- http://master.php.net/note/delete/62838 Reject -- http://master.php.net/note/reject/62838 Search -- http://master.php.net/manage/user-notes.php