Include vs Function?

[Anon]

I have a webpage using several includes for header, footer, etc. The header & footer files each consist of 50+ lines.

Instead of using includes, I put the header code into a function call print_header() and footer code into another function called print_footer().

So instead of calling includes, I am simply calling a function for the same output.

I think it's a bit more efficient that way, but is it? I don't program much at all, so this may sound like a pretty stupid question.

[Anon]

How do you keep the functions up to date in every file? The plus of the include is you can just <?include("footer.php");?> on every page. If you're using templates, or a shared PHP script on every page, then the function might be the better route.

"I have a webpage..."

If it's just one page, then functions might be a bit more effecient.

Of course, don't you think editing a small header and footer file is easier than editing a BIG file and finding the part that you want to edit.

Again, this question depends on the structure of you site (or page) and your personal preference...

[Anon]

Actually, I have many webpage using the same header and footer. Yes, the downside of using function is editing it, but I thought it might be more efficient. Instead of calling include() from several sources, I can call the functions from one file.

[[deleted]]

If your header and footer don't have (much) PHP in it, then loading it using include() doesn't make a noticable difference in performance.

Things like this are not important unless you have a very busy site (2-3M Hits/Hour)