How can including external PHP files within an IF statement affect the execution of the code?

Including external PHP files within an IF statement can affect the execution of the code because the file will be included only if the condition is true. This can lead to unexpected behavior or errors if the file contains important functions or variables needed elsewhere in the code. To solve this issue, it's better to include the external PHP files outside of the IF statement to ensure they are always available when needed.

// Include external PHP files outside of the IF statement
include 'external_file.php';

// Check the condition
if ($condition) {
    // Code that depends on the external file
}