good code, bad code, magic code

[Mark]

i've discovered (on my server) that it doesn't seem to be necessary to
call data from a form via $_POST, or to retrieve cookies via $_COOKIE,
and other such things; they are available by name alone. however, i've
heard that just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD.
my question: is this considered bad practice?

also, when submitting a file via <input name="file" type="file" /> i
find that not only does $file get set, but $file_name and others also
"magically" get set... I guess I just find that odd coming from C++
where nothing seems to do work for you... quite nice and handy though :)

[Gordon Burditt]

>i've discovered (on my server) that it doesn't seem to be necessary to

call data from a form via $_POST, or to retrieve cookies via $_COOKIE,
and other such things; they are available by name alone. however, i've
register_globals is a security problem. Don't write code that
depends on it.
heard that just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you SHOULD.
my question: is this considered bad practice?

Yes. And you'll probably find some hosting companies that
WILL NOT turn on register_globals for any price.

Gordon L. Burditt

[Mark]

great! thanks.
that's all I wanted to know.