As noted, list() will give an error if the input array is too short. This can be avoided by array_merge()'ing in some default values. For example:
<?php
$parameter = 'name';
list( $a, $b ) = array_merge( explode( '=', $parameter ), array( true ) );
?>
However, you will have to array_merge with an array long enough to ensure there are enough elements (if $parameter is empty, the code above would still error).
An alternate approach would be to use array_pad on the array to ensure its length (if all the defaults you need to add are the same).
<?php
$parameter = 'bob-12345';
list( $name, $id, $fav_color, $age ) = array_pad( explode( '-', $parameter ), 4, '' );
var_dump($name, $id, $fav_color, $age);
?>
