PHP include file extensions?

Question

For required/included files in PHP, is it better to use .inc extensions vs .inc.php vs .php extensions?

Answer 1

Apache can sometimes (due to bugs or severe crashes) serve .php files as text (happend to me a few times on shared hosting).... I think you can use any extension you want as long as you don't store your files in a public folder.

Let's say your site is in /home/user/public_html/

create another folder /home/user/lib_php/

have the files:

(1) .../lib_php/one.class.php with

class one { 
//...
}

(2) .../lib_php/two.function.php with

function two() { 
//...
}

and you have the main index.php in /public_html

$x=a;
$b=two($x);
$c=new one;
//etc..

or

This way you are taking every precaution the files are not reachable directly but can be used by your scripts...