Data Types in PHP - Variable Types in PHP

• Data types of PHP
  • Integer
    • Example of Integer
  • Float / Double
    • Example of Float / Double
  • String
    • Example of String
  • Boolean
    • Example of Boolean
  • Null
    • Example of Null
  • Object
    • Example of Object
  • Array
    • Example of Array
  • Resource
    • Example of Resource
  • Check Variable data type in PHP

In our prevous Chapter, we’ve learned How to create and assign variable in PHP. We’ve seen that we can store some data in a variable and that data could be any type, like it could be a number, text or anything. This different types is called Data Type in the aspect of Programming language.

In this chapter, let’s learn the different data types of PHP.

¶Data types of PHP

There are total 8 data types in PHP.

1. Integer - Store number / numeric number to a variable. eg: $age = 28, $number1 = 50.
2. Float / Double - Store decimal or floating point number to a variable. eg: $price = 200000.50, $cgpa = 3.8.
3. Boolean - Store only true or false to a variable. If something valid then = true otherwise = false.
4. String - Store text like data to a variable. eg: $name = "Jhon Doe", $welcome_text = "Welcome to Learn PHP"
5. Null - Null is another special data type, if nothing found to store in a variable, then it’s used. Which stores only a single value NULL or null. eg: $avatar_url = null
6. Object - Object are actually a user defined data types, means - we can create a custom data type which will use several key:value pair data.
7. Array - Store same types of multiple data to a variable, it could be named or indexed. eg: $marks = [10, 20]
8. Resource - Resource is another special types. It’s actually not a data type. It stores the reference value of some values.

¶Integer

Store number / numeric number to a variable.

¶Example of Integer

<?php
$number1 = 50;
$number2 = 60;
$summation = $number1 + $number2;

$age = 28;
?>

¶Float / Double

Store decimal or floating point number to a variable.

¶Example of Float / Double

Let’s assume a product price has some floating point value like 100.05. So, we’ve to use floating point value to this variable.

$product_price = 100.05;

¶String

Store text like data to a variable.

¶Example of String

$name = "Jhon Doe";
$welcome_text = "Welcome to Learn PHP";

$post_title = "Data Types in PHP - Variable Types in PHP";
$post_slug = "data-types-in-php-variable-types-in-php";
$post_description = "xxxxxx";

¶Boolean

Store only true or false to a variable. If something valid then = true otherwise = false.

¶Example of Boolean

Suppose, in our system, we’ve an authentication system, where user could log in or not. So, there would be two case, either user is logged in or logged out. We can handle this using boolean data type true or false.

$is_user_logged_in = true;
$is_user_logged_in = false;

¶Null

Null is another special data type, if nothing found to store in a variable, then it’s used. Which stores only a single value NULL or null.

¶Example of Null

Suppose, we’ve users in our website. When they first time register to our site, they don’t upload any image or called avatar. So, at first user image could be empty. We can use null to store at first registration.

$user_image = null;

¶Object

Object are actually a user defined data types, means - we can create a custom data type which will use several key:value pair data.

¶Example of Object

Suppose, we want to make a custom user defined data types of some specific things, then we use object like system. Object is an advanced topic, since we’ll discuss it later.

¶Array

Store same types of multiple data to a variable, it could be named or indexed.

¶Example of Array

Suppose, we want to store our list of marks in something, means - specific types of many data will be stored in a variable. Below example - $marks is an array data type variable.

<?php
	$marks = [80, 95, 100, 75, 50];
?>

¶Resource

Resource is another special types. It’s actually not a data type. It stores the reference value of some values.

¶Example of Resource

Resource is an advanced topic, since we’ll discuss it later.

¶Check Variable data type in PHP

So, we’ve learned the different data types. In our practical coding many times, we’ve to debug or test our code by checking the data type and data and PHP has a built in method or way to check that - var_dump( $variable_name )

<?php
$name = "Akash";
var_dump($name); // string(5) "Akash"

$age = 28;
var_dump($age); // int(28)

$price = 100.50;
var_dump($price); // float(100.5)
?>

That’s cool, right. We can easily check the data type for debug purpose.