$_REQUEST Superglobal

In PHP, the $_REQUEST superglobal is a built-in array that contains data that was submitted in an HTML form using either the GET or POST method. It is also used to get data from HTTP requests that are sent using either the GET or POST method.

It may seem convienent to use the $_REQUEST superglobal, but it is not recommended. It is better to use the $_GET and $_POST superglobals instead. Mixing GET and POST data may lead to unexpected behavior and security vulnerabilities. However, I did want to mention it because you may come across it in legacy code.

I am just using the code from the $_POST tutorial. First I will show you that we can use $_REQUEST to get query params:

echo $_REQUEST['name'] ?? ''; // Get query param

In your URL bar, add ?name=john. It will work like the $_GET superglobal in this sense.

Now, change all of the $_POST to $_REQUEST and submit. It will work the same way.

$title = '';
$description = '';
$submitted = false; // Flag to check if the form has been submitted

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST' && isset($_REQUEST['submit'])) {
  // $title = isset($_REQUEST['title']) ? htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST['title']) : '';
  // $description = isset($_REQUEST['description']) ? htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST['description']) : '';
  $title = htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST['title'] ?? '');
  $description = htmlspecialchars($_REQUEST['description'] ?? '');

  // Set the submitted flag to true
  $submitted = true;
}

So this may seem convient, but better to stick with $_GET and $_POST. It makes your code more predictable and easier to understand for both you and other developers who may work on your code in the future. Additionally, using $_GET and $_POST explicitly reflects the intention of your code, making it clear whether you expect data to be passed via URL query parameters or through the request body.