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What are the differences between WPINC and ABSPATH?

You can check yourself. Just look at wp-load.php on the WordPress mirror on GitHub.

If you look yourself you can see the currently selected answer is actually incorrect as to how ABSPATH is defined. And if you compare different tags on GitHub you will see the ABSPATH definition actually changes over time.

Which one is the 'right' way to do it?

Given these are used for security, I'd go for ABSPATH. Rationale being that ABSPATH is not only defined first in the WP bootstrapper, WPINC is defined under a conditional in the same file and, as a result, is more likely to experience a future regression.

Also, while not explicitly asked, you provided examples using both die and exit. According to devdocs.io, which draws on official API documentation, die is equivalent to exit, so you could choose either of the two and it won't make a difference.

Both die and exit accept arguments, so you could consider using them to output some useful information, such as an encrypted version tag or contact information, upon abend, or pass an exit code such as 0 or -1 for further processing.

Also worth noting is that wp_die is a thing too. Not to be confused with the PHP built-ins, but compliments them for use in outputting HTML in addition to plain text and is used liberally throughout the WordPress core currently. Learn more about wp_die on WordPress.org.

What are the differences between WPINC and ABSPATH?

You can check yourself. Just look at wp-load.php on the WordPress mirror on GitHub.

Even a quick glance will show the currently selected answer is no longer correct as to how ABSPATH is defined. And if you compare different tags on GitHub you will see the ABSPATH definition actually changes over time.

Which one is the 'right' way to do it?

Given these are used for security, I'd go for ABSPATH. Rationale being that ABSPATH is not only defined first in the WP bootstrapper, WPINC is defined under a conditional in the same file and, as a result, is more likely to experience a future regression.

Also, while not explicitly asked, you provided examples using both die and exit. According to devdocs.io, which draws on official API documentation, die is equivalent to exit, so you could choose either of the two and it won't make a difference.

Both die and exit accept arguments, so you could consider using them to output some useful information, such as an encrypted version tag or contact information, upon abend, or pass an exit code such as 0 or -1 for further processing.

Also worth noting is that wp_die is a thing too. Not to be confused with the PHP built-ins, but compliments them for use in outputting HTML in addition to plain text and is used liberally throughout the WordPress core currently. Learn more about wp_die on WordPress.org.

What are the differences between WPINC and ABSPATH?

You can check yourself. Just look at wp-load.php on the WordPress mirror on GitHub.

If you look yourself you can see the currently selected answer is actually incorrect as to how ABSPATH is defined. And if you compare different tags on GitHub you will see the ABSPATH definition actually changes over time.

Which one is the 'right' way to do it?

Given these are used for security, I'd go for ABSPATH. Rationale being that ABSPATH is not only defined first in the WP bootstrapper, WPINC is defined under a conditional in the same file and, as a result, is more likely to experience a future regression.

Also, while not explicitly asked, you provided examples using both die and exit. According to devdocs.io, which draws on official API documentation, die is equivalent to exit, so you could choose either of the two and it won't make a difference.

Both die and exit accept arguments, so you could consider using them to output some useful information, such as an encrypted version tag or contact information, upon abend, or pass an exit code such as 0 or -1.

Also worth noting is that wp_die is a thing too. Not to be confused with the PHP built-ins, but used liberally throughout the WordPress core currently. Learn more about wp_die on WordPress.org.

What are the differences between WPINC and ABSPATH?

You can check yourself. Just look at wp-load.php on the WordPress mirror on GitHub.

If you look yourself you can see the currently selected answer is actually incorrect as to how ABSPATH is defined. And if you compare different tags on GitHub you will see the ABSPATH definition actually changes over time.

Which one is the 'right' way to do it?

Given these are used for security, I'd go for ABSPATH. Rationale being that ABSPATH is not only defined first in the WP bootstrapper, WPINC is defined under a conditional in the same file and, as a result, is more likely to experience a future regression.

Also, while not explicitly asked, you provided examples using both die and exit. According to devdocs.io, which draws on official API documentation, die is equivalent to exit, so you could choose either of the two and it won't make a difference.

Both die and exit accept arguments, so you could consider using them to output some useful information, such as an encrypted version tag or contact information, upon abend, or pass an exit code such as 0 or -1 for further processing.

Also worth noting is that wp_die is a thing too. Not to be confused with the PHP built-ins, but compliments them for use in outputting HTML in addition to plain text and is used liberally throughout the WordPress core currently. Learn more about wp_die on WordPress.org.

What are the differences between WPINC and ABSPATH?

You can check yourself. Just look at wp-load.php on the WordPress mirror on GitHub.

If you look yourself you can see the currently selected answer is actually incorrect as to how ABSPATH is defined. And if you compare different tags on GitHub you will see the ABSPATH definition actually changes over time.

Which one is the 'right' way to do it?

Given these are used for security, I'd go for ABSPATH. Rationale being that ABSPATH is not only defined first in the WP bootstrapper, WPINC is defined under a conditional in the same file and, as a result, is more likely to experience a future regression.

Also, while not explicitly asked, you provided examples using both die and exit. According to devdocs.io, which draws on official API documentation, die is equivalent to exit, so you could choose the one which sounds more violent but requires less typing, or the other, depending on your preferences.

Both die and exit accept arguments, so you could consider using them to output some useful information, such as an encrypted version tag or contact information, upon abend if desired. In fact, WordPress does this themselves to scorn would-be hackers in select files in Core currently.

What are the differences between WPINC and ABSPATH?

You can check yourself. Just look at wp-load.php on the WordPress mirror on GitHub.

If you look yourself you can see the currently selected answer is actually incorrect as to how ABSPATH is defined. And if you compare different tags on GitHub you will see the ABSPATH definition actually changes over time.

Which one is the 'right' way to do it?

Given these are used for security, I'd go for ABSPATH. Rationale being that ABSPATH is not only defined first in the WP bootstrapper, WPINC is defined under a conditional in the same file and, as a result, is more likely to experience a future regression.

Also, while not explicitly asked, you provided examples using both die and exit. According to devdocs.io, which draws on official API documentation, die is equivalent to exit, so you could choose either of the two and it won't make a difference.

Both die and exit accept arguments, so you could consider using them to output some useful information, such as an encrypted version tag or contact information, upon abend, or pass an exit code such as 0 or -1.

Also worth noting is that wp_die is a thing too. Not to be confused with the PHP built-ins, but used liberally throughout the WordPress core currently. Learn more about wp_die on WordPress.org.