Will the file be included again or only once?
myfile.php simply included once.
require_once 'myfile.php'; //included include_once 'myfile.php'; // not included
What is the difference between the two?
The difference between include_once and require is that when they cannot find the include_once file, a warning is issued and require will produce a fatal error.
require is identical to inclusion, except in cases of failure, it will also lead to a fatal error of level E_COMPILE_ERROR. In other words, it will stop the script, while it includes only a warning (E_WARNING), which allows the script to continue. [ http://php.net/manual/en/function.require.php]
Does the request cause an error on failure and include recovery attempts? any other differences?
include allows you to recover yes, fail always ends in one way, try catch cant even save the script.
It is worth noting what will happen if other combinations of the four file rating evaluations ( include , include_once , require and require ).
If the file was found
include and require will always include a file regardless of whether you have previously used require , include , require or include_once with the same file.
include_once 'myfile.php'; //included include 'myfile.php'; //always included require 'myfile.php'; //always included require_once 'myfile.php'; // not included, prevously included via [function.include_once], [function.include] and [function.require]
include_once and require will only include the file if it was not previously included using require , include , require or include_once .
require 'myfile.php'; //always included include_once 'myfile.php'; // not included, prevously included via [function.require]