PHP $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] vs realpath(dirname(_FILE_))
php
Solution
The `$_SERVER[ 'DOCUMENT_ROOT' ]` variable returns a server setting. Specifically it returns:
The document root directory under which the current script is executing, as defined in the server's configuration file.
The `realpath( dirname( __FILE__ ) )` function will return the path of the folder that the current script is actually residing.
One is returning the value of a server setting and the other evaluates to a file's path. In some cases, the values will be the same but you should be aware of the difference between the two.
Problem
I was wondering if one method was better than the other. I have been using the `$_SERVER` method to point to the current directory but is this method better than the `realpath(dirname(_FILE_))` method or is there any difference?