multiple consise includes vs fewer more verbose includes

[nusbaum]

I'm sure this has been discussed many time, but I cannot find a search that will get me to the useful answers/opinions.

Which has a greater performance impact:
1. Loading multipe consise includes, less than ten, for a request.
2. Loading fewer includes with a fair amount of code that will not be used during the request.

For example, I have a couple of requests the require multiple database transactions that would not normally exist in the same include. (different object or domain). I can load a couple of includes or I can put all the DB stuff in one BIG file.

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to balance the I/O vs parsing concerns. Any opinions?

[pohopo]

for the heck of it I did a little test where i logged the reload time of two pages. one with includes and one without. here are my non scientific results.

page with 200 lines of code and no includes:

.007
.006
.005
.007
.005
.005
.007
.015
.005
.005

the same page but i added 10 include files which contain 2,424 lines of code:

.005
.008
.006
.005
.005
.006
.005
.005
.005
.005

I know includes take overhead, but I do not think it is that big unless you are adding 100 include files. i personally like to break it up so that each include is a class. this lets me program in an object oriented style making it much easier to manage the code.

-- disclaimer --
i just started php 5 months ago so i can very well be wrong (though i have been developing for much longer). please feel free to correct me if needed!