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This tutorial helps you learn about the PHP data types. So, let's get started.
The following basic data types are supported by PHP:
Two special types of PHP Data are also available. These are:
It is a non-decimal number between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647.
The rules for declaring integers data type:
Look at the example below to test different numbers.
The data type and value of variables are returned by the PHP var_dump() function:
<?php
$x = 5186; //positive number
var_dump($x);
echo "<br />";
$x = -521; //negative number
var_dump($x);
echo "<br />";
$x = 0xF; //hexadecimal number
var_dump($x);
echo "<br />";
$x = 051; //octal number
var_dump($x);
?>
It is a number with either a decimal point or a number in exponential form.
In the example below, we will test different numbers.
<?php
$x = 24.365;
var_dump($x);
echo "<br />";
$x = 1.5e3;
var_dump($x);
?>
It is a sequence of characters, like "Hello world!".
It can be any text inside quotes. In addition, you can use single ' or " double quotes:
<?php
$name = "Hello world!"; //double quote
echo $name;
echo "<br />";
$name = 'Hello world!'; //single quote
echo $name;
?>
Booleans can be either TRUE or FALSE.
They are often used in conditional testing. In the later chapters of this tutorial, you will learn more about conditional testing.
<?php
$x = true;
$y = false;
?>
You can store multiple values in one single variable in an array.
In the example given here, an array is created, and then the PHP var_dump() function is used to return the data type and value of the array:
In the later chapters of this tutorial, you will learn a lot more about arrays.
<?php
$language = array("C","C++","JAVA");
var_dump($language);
?>
It is a data type that stores data and information on how to process that data.
You must declare an object explicitly in PHP.
First, a class of object must be declared. To do this, the class keyword is used. A class is a structure that can include properties and methods.
The data type is then defined in the object class, and then the data type is used in instances of that class:
In the later chapters of this tutorial, you will learn more about objects.
<?php
class Mobile {
public $color;
public $model;
public function __construct($color, $model) {
$this->color = $color;
$this->model = $model;
}
public function message() {
return "My mobile is a " . $this->color . " " . $this->model . "!";
}
}
$myMobile = new Mobile("white", "Apple 13 Pro");
echo $myMobile -> message();
echo "<br>";
$myMobile = new Mobile("red", "Apple 13 Mini");
echo $myMobile -> message();
?>
It represents that a variable has no value. Data type NUll's only possible is NULL.
It identifies whether a variable is empty or not. Also helpful to distinguish between the empty string and null values of databases.
You can empty the variables by setting the value to NULL:
<?php
$var1 = ""; //empty string
var_dump($var1);
echo "<br />";
$var2 = null; //null value
var_dump($var2);
?>
Variables that have the type resource are returned by certain built-in functions (such as database functions). External Resources Value (such as database connections) is represented by them.
You will almost surely not directly manipulate a resource variable, but they are frequently returned by functions and must be passed as parameters to other functions.
<?php
$con = mysqli_connect(host,username,password,dbname);
/*here mysqli_connect() function returns Resource Value(database connection)*/
?>In the above example, we store the connection in a variable ($con)