Variable Types

PHP does not require a command to declare a variable, and the data type is determined by the value assigned to the variable.

Example

$x = 5;      // $x is an integer

$y = "John"; // $y is a string

echo $x;

echo $y;

PHP supports the following data types:

• String
• Integer
• Float (floating-point numbers, also known as double)
• Boolean
• Array
• Object
• NULL
• Resource

Get the Type

To determine the data type of a variable, use the var_dump() function.

Example

The var_dump() function provides both the data type and the value.

$x = 5;
var_dump($x);

Example

Check what var_dump() returns for different data types:

var_dump(5);
var_dump("John");
var_dump(3.14);
var_dump(true);
var_dump([2, 3, 56]);
var_dump(NULL);

Assign String to a Variable

To assign a string to a variable, use the variable name followed by an equal sign and the string.

Example

$x = "John";
echo $x;

Assign Multiple Values

You can assign the same value to multiple variables in a single line.

Example

All three variables receive the value “Fruit”:

$x = $y = $z = "Fruit";