Question

Lets say I have 2 cases:

<?php
   print("html code goes here");
?>

v.s

<?php
?>

html codes goes here

<?php
?>

Would the performance for PHP interpreter in the first case be worse than the second one? (Due to the extra overhead of processing inside print function).

So, does anyone have a recommended way to insert html codes inside php codes?

Answer 1

Don’t do it that way at all! Use a templating system like Smarty so you can separate your logic from your display code. It also allows you to bring in a designer that can work with html and might not know php at all. Smarty templates read more like HTML than PHP and that can make a big difference when dealing with a designer.

Also, you don’t have to worry about your designer messing with your code while doing a find/replace!

Better yet would be to go to a setup like Django or Rails that has clearly delineated code/template setup, but if you can’t do that (cheap hosting solutions) then at least use templating. I don’t know if smarty is the best thing for PHP, but its far better than both solutions you are proposing.