PHP Superglobals

PHP Superglobals

Several predefined variables in PHP are "superglobals", which means they are always accessible, regardless of scope - and you can access them from any function, class, or file without having to do anything special.

The PHP Superglobal Variables

• $GLOBALS: Used to access global variables from anywhere in the PHP script.
• $_SERVER: Holds information about headers, paths, and script locations.
• $_REQUEST: Used to collect data after submitting an HTML form.
• $_POST: Used to collect form data after submitting an HTML form with method="post". This is highly secure and does not show data in the URL.
• $_GET: Used to collect form data after submitting an HTML form with method="get". Data is visible in the URL.
• $_FILES: Contains items uploaded via the HTTP POST method.
• $_ENV: Contains environment variables.
• $_COOKIE: Used to retrieve cookie values.
• $_SESSION: Used to retrieve session values (temporary memory stored on the server).

Example: Using $_SERVER

Let's look at $_SERVER to find the name of the file currently executing.

<?php
echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];
echo "<br>";
echo $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'];
?>

Superglobals are the essential bridge between the user's web browser and the server!