title: Get a variable from a url String in PHP
body: <p>I'm writing a program to embed youtube videos. The user will submit the URL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoBP24I2lwA) and i need to separate the "IoBP24I2lwA". The problem is, not all youtube videos end with the "v" variable so i cant just do a substring until it gets to the "=" sign. Some urls look like this: "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoBP24I2lwA&amp;feature=branded".</p>
  
  <p>Is there a way to get just the "v" variable, like using $_GET['v']...just for a string instead?</p>
  
  <p>Thanks,
  Ian</p>