What is the significance of the order in which include and require statements are placed in PHP files, particularly when dealing with session authentication?

The significance of the order in which include and require statements are placed in PHP files, particularly when dealing with session authentication, is that the included files may contain functions or classes that are necessary for the session authentication process. Therefore, these files should be included before starting the session to ensure that all required functionality is available during the authentication process.

<?php
// Include necessary files first
require_once 'functions.php';
require_once 'db_connection.php';

// Start the session after including required files
session_start();

// Authentication process code here
?>