title: Can anyone explain the following PHP Code?
body: <p>Can anyone explain the following PHP Code ?</p>
  
  <pre><code>function get_param($param_name, $param_type = 0)
      {
        global $HTTP_POST_VARS, $HTTP_GET_VARS;
  
        $param_value = "";
          if (isset($_POST)) {
            if (isset($_POST[$param_name]) &amp;&amp; $param_type != GET)
            $param_value = $_POST[$param_name];
            elseif (isset($_GET[$param_name]) &amp;&amp; $param_type != POST)
            $param_value = $_GET[$param_name];
          } else {
            if (isset($HTTP_POST_VARS[$param_name]) &amp;&amp; $param_type != GET)
            $param_value = $HTTP_POST_VARS[$param_name];
            elseif (isset($HTTP_GET_VARS[$param_name]) &amp;&amp; $param_type != POST)
            $param_value = $HTTP_GET_VARS[$param_name];
          }
  
          return strip($param_value);
      }
  
  function strip($value)
      {
          if (get_magic_quotes_gpc() == 0) {
              return $value;
          } else {
              return stripslashes($value);
          }
      }
  </code></pre>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p><strong>UPDATE</strong></p>
  
  <p>It is used like this:  </p>
  
  <pre><code>$xml = get_param('xml');
  </code></pre>