composer/composer — pull request #1176 by claylo (2012-10-02 23:05:13+00:00)
Title: Support a 'files-once' autoload option.

For the edge cases where the most streamlined path is a "files" include with require_once, allow it with a "files-once" autoload node.

I've added discouraging language around this choice to the documentation, but as #867 illustrates, PHPUnit isn't, hasn't been, and won't be the only package seeking Composer compatibility that would benefit from this solution.

Package maintainers who want to get their packages into Composer-readiness as quickly as possible, and haven't yet had an opportunity to resolve their older approaches to autoloading could use this feature as a stopgap measure that reduces issues with their end users, which in turn frees them up to do the refactoring necessary to no longer need `files-once`. Everybody wins!