What is the best practice for processing a form in PHP, creating the form first or processing it first?

When processing a form in PHP, it is best practice to create the form first and then process the form data. This allows for a cleaner separation of concerns and ensures that the form is displayed before any data is submitted. By following this approach, you can also easily handle form validation and error messages before processing the form data. 

<?php
// Display the form
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "GET") {
    ?>
    <form method="post" action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; ?>">
        <input type="text" name="name" placeholder="Enter your name">
        <input type="submit" value="Submit">
    </form>
    <?php
}

// Process the form data
if ($_SERVER["REQUEST_METHOD"] == "POST") {
    $name = $_POST["name"];
    
    // Process the form data here
    echo "Hello, $name!";
}
?>

Keywords

form processing PHP form creation data validation error handling

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