Is it best practice to assign GET/POST values to local variables before processing them, or is it better to work directly with the superglobals?

It is generally considered best practice to assign GET/POST values to local variables before processing them. This helps improve code readability, makes it easier to sanitize and validate user input, and reduces the risk of security vulnerabilities such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting attacks.

// Assigning GET/POST values to local variables
$username = isset($_POST['username']) ? $_POST['username'] : '';
$password = isset($_POST['password']) ? $_POST['password'] : '';

// Processing the values
// Example: Checking if username and password are not empty
if (!empty($username) && !empty($password)) {
    // Process the login
} else {
    // Handle empty username or password
}