A quick question about a design pattern

[ashattuc]

Hello,

What is the design pattern where you use a single file (eg. index.php) as a gateway for all of your pages? For instance, instead of having about-us.php, contact-us.php, you just have a single index.php, and all calls to pages in that directory get routed through it via an .htaccess file.

I see some of the more popular programs using this kind of system, so it must be useful. Any thoughts on why it's a good approach would be helpful as well.

Thanks!
Chris

[clamcrusher]

i beleive you would call that a front controller design.

may wanna ask this question in the application design forum.