What are the potential drawbacks of using include to pass variables between PHP files?

One potential drawback of using include to pass variables between PHP files is that it can lead to variable scope issues, as the included file may not have access to all the variables in the main file. To solve this, you can use functions to encapsulate the variables you want to pass between files, ensuring they are properly scoped.

// main.php
$variable = 'Hello';

function getVariable(){
    global $variable;
    return $variable;
}

// included.php
include 'main.php';

echo getVariable(); // Output: Hello