What is the significance of using global variables like $a_db and $PHP_SELF in PHP scripts?

Using global variables like $a_db and $PHP_SELF in PHP scripts can lead to security vulnerabilities and make the code harder to maintain. It is recommended to avoid using global variables whenever possible and instead pass variables through function parameters or use PHP superglobals like $_GET and $_POST.

// Avoid using global variables like $a_db and $PHP_SELF
// Instead, use function parameters or PHP superglobals

// Example of passing variables through function parameters
function process_data($data) {
    // Process the data
}

$data = $_POST['data'];
process_data($data);

// Example of using PHP superglobals
$url = $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'];
echo $url;