What are best practices for handling file inclusion errors in PHP scripts?

When handling file inclusion errors in PHP scripts, it is important to check if the file exists before including it to prevent errors. One common practice is to use the `file_exists()` function to verify the existence of the file before including it in the script.

$file = 'included_file.php';

if (file_exists($file)) {
    include $file;
} else {
    // Handle error or display a message
    echo 'Error: File not found';
}