Would writing HTML with PHP's echo vs writing plain HTML cause any differences in performance?

Question

Which is better in terms of CPU optimization for a web server? Writing plain HTML and inserting PHP code here and there?

<script type="text/javascript">$(document).ready(function(){$('#search').focus();});</script>
<div id="default">
    <div class="left">
        <?include(DIR_DIV.'facebook.php')?>
    </div>
    <div class="right">
        <?include(DIR_ADS.'google.300x250.php')?>
    </div>
    <div class="sep"></div>
</div>

Or writing the all the HTML with echo in PHP?

echo '<script type="text/javascript">$(document).ready(function(){$(\'#search\').focus();});</script>';
echo '<div id="default">';
    echo '<div class="left">';
        include(DIR_ADS.'google.300x250.php');
    echo '</div>';
    echo '<div class="right">';
        include(DIR_DIV.'facebook.php');
    echo '</div>';
    echo '<div class="sep"></div>';
echo '</div>'

Does the difference even matter or is it insignificant?

Answer 1

finally, does the difference even matter or is it insignificant?

It doesn't matter performance wise, it's completely insignificant.

It does matter readability wise though - I find the first block far more legible than the second one. Wrapping HTML into PHP code like that doesn't make sense - it becomes harder to debug, for one thing.