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PHP Data Types

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PHP Data Types

Variables can store data of different types, and different data types can do different things.

PHP supports the following data types:

String
Integer
Float (floating point numbers - also called double)
Boolean
Array
Object
NULL
Resource

Getting the Data Type

You can get the data type of any object by using the var_dump() function.

Example Get your own PHP Server

The var_dump() function returns the data type and the value:

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$x = Tutorials
5;
var_dump($x);
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Try it Yourself »

PHP String
A string is a sequence of characters, like "Hello world!".

A string can be any text inside quotes. You can use single or double quotes:

Example

$x = "Hello world!";
$y = 'Hello world!';

var_dump($x);
echo "<br>";
var_dump($y);

Try it Yourself »

PHP Integer
An integer data type is a non-decimal number between -2,147,483,648 and 2,147,483,647.

Rules for integers:

An integer must have at least one digit

An integer must not have a decimal point
An integer can be either positive or negative
Integers can be specified in: decimal (base 10), hexadecimal (base 16), octal (base 8), or
binary (base 2) notation

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In the following example $x is an integer. The PHP var_dump() function returns the data type
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Example

$x = 5985;
var_dump($x);

Try it Yourself »

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PHP Float
A float (floating point number) is a number with a decimal point or a number in exponential form.

In the following example $x is a float. The PHP var_dump() function returns the data type and
value:

Example

$x = 10.365;
var_dump($x);

Try it Yourself »

PHP Boolean
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A Boolean represents two possible states: TRUE or FALSE.

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Example

$x = true;
var_dump($x);

Try it Yourself »

Booleans are often used in conditional testing.

You will learn more about conditional testing in the PHP If...Else chapter.

PHP Array
An array stores multiple values in one single variable.

In the following example $cars is an array. The PHP var_dump() function returns the data type
and value:

Example

$cars = array("Volvo","BMW","Toyota");
var_dump($cars);

Try it Yourself »

You will learn a lot more about arrays in later chapters of this tutorial.

PHP Object
Classes and objects are the two main aspects of object-oriented programming.

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A class is a template for objects, and an object is an instance of a class.

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When the individual objects are created, they inherit all the properties and behaviors from the class,
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but eachCSS JAVASCRIPT
object will SQL forPYTHON
have different values the properties. JAVA PHP HOW TO W3.CSS C

Let's assume we have a class named Car that can have properties like model, color, etc. We can
define variables like $model , $color , and so on, to hold the values of these properties.

When the individual objects (Volvo, BMW, Toyota, etc.) are created, they inherit all the properties and
behaviors from the class, but each object will have different values for the properties.

If you create a __construct() function, PHP will automatically call this function when you create
an object from a class.

Example

class Car {
public $color;
public $model;
public function __construct($color, $model) {
$this->color = $color;
$this->model = $model;
}
public function message() {
return "My car is a " . $this->color . " " . $this->model . "!";
}
}

$myCar = new Car("red", "Volvo");

var_dump($myCar);

Try it Yourself »

Do not worry if you do not understand the PHP Object syntax, you will learn more about that in the
PHP Classes/Objects chapter.

PHP NULL Value

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Null is a special data type which can have only one value: NULL.
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A variable of data type NULL is a variable that has no value assigned to it.
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Tip: If a variable is created without a value, it is automatically assigned a value of NULL.

Variables can also be emptied by setting the value to NULL:

Example

$x = "Hello world!";
$x = null;
var_dump($x);

Try it Yourself »

Change Data Type

If you assign an integer value to a variable, the type will automatically be an integer.

If you assign a string to the same variable, the type will change to a string:

Example

$x = 5;
var_dump($x);

$x = "Hello";
var_dump($x);

Try it Yourself »

If you want to change the data type of an existing variable, but not by changing the value, you can
use casting.

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Casting allows you to change data type on variables:

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Example

$x = 5;
$x = (string) $x;
var_dump($x);

Try it Yourself »

You will learn more about casting in the PHP Casting Chapter.

PHP Resource
The special resource type is not an actual data type. It is the storing of a reference to functions and
resources external to PHP.

A common example of using the resource data type is a database call.

We will not talk about the resource type here, since it is an advanced topic.

?
Exercise
What data type is the $x variable below:
$x = true;

Integer

Boolean

Float

String

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