In what situations would it be advisable to include a PHP script from an external server, and how can this be done securely?

Including a PHP script from an external server can be useful when you want to dynamically load content or functionality from another source. However, this can also pose security risks if the external server is not trustworthy. To include a PHP script from an external server securely, you should validate the source of the script and sanitize any input to prevent injection attacks.

$external_url = 'https://example.com/external_script.php';

// Validate the source of the script
if (strpos($external_url, 'https://example.com/') === 0) {
    // Sanitize any input
    $data = sanitize_input($_GET['data']);

    // Include the external script
    include($external_url);
} else {
    die('Invalid external script URL');
}

function sanitize_input($input) {
    // Sanitize input here
    return $input;
}