phpdotenv

phpdotenv is a PHP library that allows developers to load environment variables from a .env file into the $_ENV superglobal or $_SERVER superglobal. This is a common practice for managing configuration settings, such as database credentials, API keys, and other sensitive information, outside of the codebase.

The library works by parsing a .env file, which is typically located in the root directory of a project. Each line in the .env file represents a key-value pair, where the key is the name of the environment variable and the value is its corresponding setting. For example, a .env file might contain lines like DB_HOST=localhost and DB_USER=root.

Once the .env file is parsed, the key-value pairs are loaded into the PHP environment. This makes them accessible within the application code. This approach helps to keep sensitive information out of version control, improving security and making it easier to manage different configurations for different environments, such as development, staging, and production.

To use phpdotenv, developers typically include it in their project via Composer. A simple `require` statement and a call to the `Dotenv::load()` method is often sufficient to load the variables. Many modern PHP frameworks have integrated phpdotenv or similar solutions into their default configurations, simplifying the process for developers.