| Re: Reading a file on same server [message #182374 is a reply to message #182368] |
Thu, 01 August 2013 19:28  |
Luuk
Messages: 329
Registered: September 2010
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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On 31-07-2013 18:09, J.O. Aho wrote:
> On 31/07/13 13:13, Bruce Lee wrote:
>> HI
>>
>> Suppose I have a php file "read_file.php" that is used to read .txt
>> files, the structure of the folder/files are:
>>
>> /www/read_file.php
>> /www/public/upload/
>>
>> I was wondering which will be faster and why in PHP..
>>
>> Method 1:
>> read file using relative path
>>
>> Eg: get_file_contents("public/upload/test.txt");
>>
>>
>> Method 2:
>> read file using URL (note that the server which is making the request
>> and the server where the file is being read is same)
>>
>> Eg: get_file_contents("http://mydomain.com/public/upload/test.txt");
>>
>>
>> Can someone explain me which is faster and why?
>
> Compare what would happen:
>
> Method 1:
> 1. PHP opens a file.
> 2. Reads file.
> 3. Close file.
>
> Method 2:
> 1. PHP makes a handshake with the webserver
> 2. Web server opens file.
> 3. Web server opens log file (or it's already open, depends on config).
> 4. Web server reads file.
> 5. Web server sends file.
> 6. Web server writes to log.
> 7. PHP receives data
>
> Handshakes are usually time consuming and as the web server will do
> other things too, it will cause overhead.
>
> You could compare the whole with reading a book, I'll present two
> methods and you pick which one is faster:
>
> Method 1:
> You read a book.
>
> Method 2:
> You ask your friend to read a book, write it down on paper and you read
> the written papers.
>
> And if you doubt us, do as Thomas suggests, measure the time consumed,
> test it say 1000 times each method, compare the times.
>
> There is another aspect to it too, error handling will be more
> difficult, as you don't really know why the web server suddenly gives
> you a 404, is the file really gone or just that the web server ain't
> allowed to access it or someone changed the DocumentRoot.
>
> Also the more you do over the net instead of directly, it's more
> difficult to follow what happens in your code and it becomes difficult
> to maintain the code in a proper way, I have seen such code out in the
> live, just for someone thought it was simpler to call another script
> than write the function in a way that you could include the code and use
> it directly.
>
And what about someone else going to:
http://mydomain.com/public/upload/test.txt
With the first method it's possible to store your docs where they are
not reachable directly from the outside world.....
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