PHP: Detect If Request Type Is POST Or GET.

This is a simple guide on how to detect the request type with PHP. i.e. Is the user making a POST request or a GET request – or are they using one of the other HTTP Methods, such as PUT and DELETE.

Here is a simple example:

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<?php   //Get the request method from the $_SERVER $requestType = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'];   //Print the request method out on to the page. echo $requestType;

As you can see, the request method is accessible via the $_SERVER array.

Obviously, known the request type is handy, as it allows you to:

1. Restrict HTTP requests to certain request types. i.e. If you have a page that allows a user to submit a comment, you might want to restrict that script to POST requests or PUT requests.
2. It allows you to implement REST, which is a popular software architectural style that allows you to organize interactions between independent systems.

An example of handling different request methods in PHP:

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//Get the request method. $requestType = $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'];   //Switch statement switch ($requestType) {     case 'POST':       handle_post_request();         break;     case 'GET':       handle_get_request();         break;     case 'DELETE':       handle_delete_request();         break;     default:       //request type that isn't being handled.       break; }