The include_once() statement includes and evaluates the specified file during the execution of the script. This is a behavior similar to the include() statement, with the only difference being that if the code from a file has already been included, it will not be included again. As the name suggests, it will be included just once.
ok, what does this mean exactly? lets say for example, i have three files,
FILES:
FUNCTIONS.PHP
GLOBALS.PHP
HEADER.PHP
this is how each file looks like: