php $_SERVER POST methods the new and more efficient style? - php

Question

i wrote a relatively simple but usable php query logging software a couple of years back and my setup was "plain vanilla" where a form, with a POST method has a separate page that processes the form like below
1) input form displays with a submit button that calls process-form.php
2) process-form.php then processes the form (e.g. enters the data onto a database)
3) process-form.php displays a message if everything is fine or not.
now, when i go through some php tutorials, they are teaching having the form submit upon itself by using $_SERVER
<?php
//use the $_SERVER function to decipher if the POST method has been triggered
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
$name = $_POST["name"];
$email = $_POST["email"];
$message = $_POST["message"];
//TODO: Send email, etc.
}
?>
i can see the benefits of of this method as the code remains compact as you just have to go to 1 page only instead of going to other pages if you need to fix something. Is this the prevalent method now? just asking as i am trying to learn. thank you!

Answer 1

You can use isset() or sizeof() or empty()
if (isset($_POST))
{
$name = $_POST["name"];
$email = $_POST["email"];
$message = $_POST["message"];
//TODO: Send email, etc.
}
OR
if (sizeof($_POST) > 0)
{
$name = $_POST["name"];
$email = $_POST["email"];
$message = $_POST["message"];
//TODO: Send email, etc.
}
OR
if (!empty($_POST))
{
$name = $_POST["name"];
$email = $_POST["email"];
$message = $_POST["message"];
//TODO: Send email, etc.
}