In this article, you will understand the PHP data types and how to use the predefined PHP get data type.
Anyway, PHP data types can be categorized into 3 types. Such as:
- PHP Scalar Data Type
- PHP Compound Data Type
- Special Data Type
![PHP DATA TYPES]()
Let's understand each one in detail.
PHP Scalar Data Type
The PHP data types provide us a scalar data type that already has also 4 scalar types such as integer, string, Boolean, floats. Each one has another value type. Let's take each one with an example.
PHP Integer
The PHP integer is a numerical or numbers from a list 4,3,2,1,0,-1,-2,-3,-4.for example.
<?php
$value = 55;
$value_2 = 120;
?>
Actually the integer data type has 4 types such as decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary. Check the following examples.
<?php
// => Decimal
echo 120; // 120
// => Hexadecimal
echo 0x5AD; //1453
// => Octal
echo 0353; // 235
// => Binary
echo 0b101010; // 42
?>
In the next block, I will show you the string data type.
PHP String
The string can be defined as a list of characters that can be passed inside double quotation. The PHP string has 4 kinds, such as. Double-quotation, Single-quotation, Here doc, and Now doc. Let's see examples.
<?php
// => Double Quotation
echo "This is a double quotation";
// => Single Quotation
echo 'This is a single quotation';
// => Here Doc
echo <<<IDENTIFIER
Heredoc String Type
IDENTIFIER;
// => Nowdoc
echo <<<'EOUT'
Now doc String
EOUT;
?>
PHP Float
The PHP float is referring to the point in the numbers, it is a decimal point. Let's see an example.
<?php
// Float
echo 55.12
?>
PHP Boolean
The PHP boolean is a logical value that can be put as a value into the variables. For example.
<?php
var_dump( true ); // => bool(true)
var_dump( false ); // => boot(false)
?>
PHP Compound Data Type
This is referring to a group that can be contained many values, such as array, object.
PHP Array
The PHP array is a group or a list that has multiple values grouped and indexed by keys. For example.
<?php
$array = array( "data" => "value", 10, -5, -10 => 100 );
?>
PHP Object
The PHP object is an instance from the class. It can be written as the following one.
<?php
class Animals { }
$cat = new Animals(); // an object or instance from the class
?>
PHP Special Data Type
The special data type has only two types, such as null and resource.
<?php
// => NULL
echo null; // => refers to ( no value )
// => Resource
fopen("file.txt", "r") or die("You can not open this file");
?>
Use PHP Predefined Function Get Type
To use the PHP get type, you have to pass the value as a parameter inside the gettype(). It returns a string result with the data type name. For example.
<?php
echo gettype(array()); // => array
echo gettype(11); // => integer
?>
Conclusion
You understood, what are PHP data types and how to use them with examples.
Also, you learned about how to retrieve the data type name using the PHP predefined function gettype().
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