Beginners PHP Question: What the difference between $_POST and $_FILES?

Question

Beginners PHP Question: What the difference between $_POST and $_FILES?

PHP.net says:

$_POST is an associative array of variables passed to the current script via the HTTP POST method

$_FILES is an associative array of items uploaded to the current script via the HTTP POST method

Could anyone explain what this means in practical terms?

Answer 1

Both $_POST and $_FILES are so called in php "superglobals". They are predefined variables(arrays), which means they are available in all scopes throughout a script. There is no need to declare them to access them within functions or methods.

$_POST contains all the data from forms (except files)

$_FILES contains all files sent to server via forms (only from <input type="file" />)