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➲ Super Globals:

Super globals are built-in PHP variables that are available in all scopes of the scripts. It holds and provide access to various types of information. Including form data, session data, and server environment variables.

☴ Overview:

  1. GET Variable
  2. POST Variable
  3. REQUEST Variable
  4. FILES Variable
  5. SESSION Variable
  6. COOKIE Variable
  7. SERVER Variable
  8. ENV Variable

✦ GET Variable:

It is used to collect form data sent with the GET method.

Pros:

  • This can be bookmarked.

Cons:

  • Limited data size.
  • It is not suitable for sensitive data.
  • Data is visible in the URL.

Security Practices:

  • Sanitize and validate input to prevent attacks like XSS.

Syntax: $_GET['variable_name']

Example:

if(isset($_GET['name'])){
  echo "Hello, " . $_GET['name'] . "!";
}

✦ POST Variable:

It is used to collect form data sent with the POST method.

Pros:

  • Data is not visible in the URL.
  • It can handle large amounts of data.

Cons:

  • It cannot be bookmarked.

Security Practices:

  • Sanitize and validate input to prevent attacks like SQL injection and XSS.

Syntax: $_POST['variable_name']

Example:

if(isset($_POST['name'])){
  echo "Hello, " . $_POST['name'] . "!";
}

✦ REQUEST Variable:

It contains data from both GET and POST request methods.

Pros:

  • It can be used to access data from both GET and POST requests.

Cons:

  • It is less secure than using $_GET and $_POST directly, as it can expose application to potential security risks.

Syntax:

$name = $_REQUEST['name'];

✦ FILES Variable:

It contains information about uploaded files after form submission.

Pros:

  • It allows for file uploads and processing.

Cons:

  • It requires careful handling to prevent security vulnerabilities.

Security Practices:

  • Validate and filters the file before and after upload. In order to, avoid any malicious file on the server.

Syntax:

$filename = $_FILES['file']['name'];
$tmp_name = $_FILES['file']['tmp_name'];

Example:

<form action="upload.php" method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="file" name="file">
    <button type="submit">Upload</button>
</form>

✦ SESSION Variable:

It can stores data for a specific user session.

Pros:

  • It can store large amounts of data.
  • It can be used to track user sessions.

Cons:

  • It requires session handling.
  • Data is stored on the server.

Security Practices:

  • Use strong session handling techniques to prevent session hijacking.

Syntax: $_SESSION['variable_name']

Example:

session_start();
$_SESSION['user_name'] = 'Kumar';

✦ COOKIE Variable:

It can stores data on the user's computer.

Pros:

  • It can be used to store user preferences.

Cons:

  • It can be manipulated by the user.
  • It can store limited storage space.

Security:

  • Set secure flags and expiration times for cookies.

Syntax: $_COOKIE['variable_name']

Example:

// Cookie expires in 12 hour
setcookie("user_theme", "dark", time() + 43200);

✦ SERVER Variable:

It contains information about the server environment, such as headers, paths, and script locations.

Pros:

  • It contains server informations
  • Mainly used for debugging and troubleshooting purpose
  • Security checks purpose such as verify that origin of requests with it

Cons:

  • If it is not handled carefully, it will expose sensitive server information

Security Practices:

  • Check and verify the usage of this variable, to avoid sensitive information leak

Syntax:

// Returns server address name
$server_name = $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME']; // localhost
// Returns server software 
$server_software = $_SERVER['SERVER_SOFTWARE']; // PHP 8.1.2 Development Server
// Returns current PHP script file name
$filename = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; // test.php
// Returns user's ip address
$ip_address = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']; // ::1 
// Returns request method
$request_method = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']; // GET
// Returns server protocol
$server_protocol = $_SERVER['SERVER_PROTOCOL']; // HTTP/1.1
// Returns complete path of the PHP script path
$script_filename = $_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']; // C:\xampp\htdocs\test.php

✦ ENV Variable:

It contains an associative array of variables passed to the script via the environment. These are set outside the PHP script, typically by the web server or operating system.

Pros:

  • These are not directly exposed in the source code.
  • It can easily change environment variables without modifying the script itself.
  • It often used for configuration settings, allowing to switch between different environments (e.g., development, staging, production).

Cons:

  • It might not be available in all environments, especially when running scripts locally.
  • Managing environment variables become complex in large-scale applications.

Security Practices:

  • Avoid storing highly sensitive information like API keys or passwords directly in environment variables. Consider, more secure methods like configuration files or secrets management tools.
  • Ensure that only accessible to authorized users or processes.
  • Keep system and libraries up-to-date to address security vulnerabilities related to environment variable handling.

Example:

// Assuming the DATABASE_URL is set to "mysql://user:password@host/database"
$dbUrl = $_ENV['DATABASE_URL'];

// Parse the database URL
$dbConfig = parse_url($dbUrl);

// Connect to the database with PDO
$dsn = "mysql:host={$dbConfig['host']};dbname={$dbConfig['path']}";
$pdo = new PDO($dsn, $dbConfig['user'], $dbConfig['pass']);
$pdo->setAttribute(PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE, PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION);

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