What is the best practice for including configuration files in PHP?

When including configuration files in PHP, it is best practice to store sensitive information such as database credentials in a separate file outside of the web root directory to prevent unauthorized access. This can be achieved by using a combination of PHP constants and the `require_once` function to include the configuration file securely.

<?php
define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_USER', 'username');
define('DB_PASS', 'password');
define('DB_NAME', 'database');

require_once('/path/to/config.php');
?>