(PHP 4 >= 4.1.0, PHP 5, PHP 7)
$_COOKIE -- $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS [deprecated] — HTTP Cookies
An associative array of variables passed to the current script via HTTP Cookies.
$HTTP_COOKIE_VARS contains the same initial information, but is not a superglobal. (Note that $HTTP_COOKIE_VARS and $_COOKIE are different variables and that PHP handles them as such)
Example #1 $_COOKIE example
<?php
echo 'Hello ' . htmlspecialchars($_COOKIE["name"]) . '!';
?>
Assuming the "name" cookie has been set earlier
The above example will output something similar to:
Hello Hannes!
Note:
This is a 'superglobal', or automatic global, variable. This simply means that it is available in all scopes throughout a script. There is no need to do global $variable; to access it within functions or methods.