Advanced PHP Topics - Superglobals

In the previous chapters the concept of global variable was explained. A global variable is a variable declared at the top of the script outside the function. This variable is available to the complete script. Superglobal variables are arrays built into PHP. These superglobal variables are populated automatically with useful elements, and they are available in any scope. A superglobal array can be accessed within a function or a method without using the global keyword.

PHP Superglobals


* $_COOKIE – It contains values provided to the script via HTTP cookies.

* $_GET – It contains variables submitted to the script using HTTP get method.

* $_POST – It contains variables submitted to the script using HTTP post method.

* $_REQUEST – It is a combined array containing values from the $_GET, $_POST, and $_COOKIES superglobal arrays.

* $_ENV – It contains keys and values set by the script’s shell.

* $_FILES – It contains information about uploaded files.

* $_SERVER – It contains variables made available by the server.

* $GLOBALS – It contains all the global variables associated with the current script.

Instanceof Operator
The instanceof operator in PHP is used to determine whether a given object, the parents of that object, or its implemented interfaces are of a specified object class.

Example


class X { }
class Y { }
$thing = new X;
if ($thing instanceof X) {
echo 'X';
}
if ($thing instanceof Y) {
echo 'Y';
}
?>

Declare
The declare statement is used to set execution directives for a block of code. The syntax of the declare statement is similar to the syntax of other flow control statements.
Syntax

declare (directive)

statement
The directive section allows the behavior of the declare block to be set. In this only one directive is recognized, which is the ticks directive.

[ Ticks - A tick is an event that occurs for every N low level statements, which are executed within the declare block. The value of N is specified using the statement ticks = N in the directive section.]

The statement part of the declare block will be executed according to the directives set in the directive block.

Example


// how to use declare:
// the first way:
declare(ticks=1) {
// entire script here
}
// the second way:
declare(ticks=1);
// entire script here
?>