what is the difference between $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] and $_GET['q']?

what is the difference between `$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']` and `$_GET['q']` (which is used in Drupal)?

Given this example url:

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`$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']` will give you:

`/some-dir/yourpage.php?q=bogus&n=10`

Whereas `$_GET['q']` will give you:

`bogus`

In other words, `$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']` will hold the full request path including the [querystring][1]. And `$_GET['q']` will give you the value of parameter `q` in the querystring.


[1]:

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The PHP manual explains both quite well:

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# REQUEST_URI

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# for the $_GET["q"] variable

In the context of Drupal, the difference will depend whether clean URLs are on or not.

With them off, `$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']` will have the full path of the page as called w/ `/index.php`, while `$_GET["q"]` will just have what is assigned to `q`.

With them on, they will be nearly identical w/o other arguments, but `$_GET["q"]` will be missing the leading `/`. Take a look towards the end of the default .htaccess to see what is going on. They will also differ if additional arguments are passed into the page, eg when a pager is active.