For constructing variables, PHP supports various data types.
Index
PHP Data Types
This article is all about the PHP Datatypes. Data types represent the type of data associated with PHP variables.
PHP supports eight primitive data types that are divide into three types.
- Scalar Data types
- Compound Data Types
- Special Data Types
Read Also: PHP Variables
Scalar Data Types
Scalar data types contain only a single value for variable references.
Integer
Integers are whole numbers. We can specify integers in decimal (base 10), hexadecimal(base 16), or octal (base 8) notation. Integer means numeric data with a negative or positive sign. On a 32 bit machine, it’s around 2 billion, and 64-bit machines usually have large values.
Example
<?php $dec1 = 34; $oct1 = 0243; $hexa1 = 0x45; echo "Decimal number: " .$dec1. "</br>"; echo "Octal number: " .$oct1. "</br>"; echo "HexaDecimal number: " .$hexa1. "</br>"; ?>
Output
Decimal number: 34 Octal number: 163 HexaDecimal number: 69
Float/Double
Floating-point numbers are also known as floats, doubles, or real figures. Floating-point numbers are decimal or fractional numbers.
Example
<?php $n1 = 19.34; $n2 = 54.472; $sum = $n1 + $n2; echo "Sum of floating numbers: " .$sum; ?>
Output
Addition of floating numbers: 73.812
String
It holds letters or alphabet, numbers, and special characters. String values must enclose within single or double-quotes.
Example
<?php $name = "Suman"; //single and double quote statements will treat different echo "Hello $name"; echo "</br>"; echo 'Hello $name'; ?>
Output
Hello Suman Hello $name
Boolean
Boolean is the simplest datatype. It holds two values, TRUE(1) or FALSE(0). It uses Conditional Statements. If the condition is correct, it returns TRUE; Otherwise, it returns FALSE.
Example
<?php if (TRUE) echo "This condition is TRUE."; if (FALSE) echo "This condition is FALSE."; ?>
Output
This condition is TRUE.
Compound Data Types
The compound data type is constructed by grouping multiple primitive data types.
Array
An array is a compound data type that can store multiple values of the same data type in a single variable. It is an indexed collection of data values; each index of an array is unique. The indexing of the array starts with 0.
Example
<?php $fruits = array ("Apple", "Banana", "Mango"); var_dump($fruits); echo "</br>"; echo "Array Element1: $fruits[0] </br>"; echo "Array Element2: $fruits[1] </br>"; echo "Array Element3: $fruits[2] </br>"; ?>
Output
array(3) { [0]=> string(5) "Apple" [1]=> string(6) "Banana" [2]=> string(5) "Mango" } Array Element1: Apple Array Element2: Banana Array Element3: Mango
Object
In PHP, an object is defined as an instance of user-defined classes. It can hold both values and functions. An object is a datatype that not only allows storing data but also information on how to process the data. All object has its properties and methods corresponding to its parent class. An object is entirely independent of its features and techniques.
Example
<?php class fruit{ function name(){ $fruit_name = "Apple"; echo "Fruit Name: " .$fruit_name; } } $obj = new fruit(); $obj -> name(); ?>
Output
Fruit Name: Apple
Special Data Types
Resource
PHP resource datatype refers to external resource data like file resource, database resource. Resource variables typically hold special handlers to opened files and database connections.
Example
<?php
//open a file on read mode
$handle = fopen ("abc.txt",r);
Var_dump($handle);
echo "<br>";
//How to connect to the MySQL database using PHP
$link = mysqli_connect("localhost", "USERNAME", "PASSWORD", "DATABASE");
var_dump($link);
?>
NULL
In PHP, null represents the empty variable. A variable without any data is a type of NULL variable. If we create any variable and do not assign any value to it, it will automatically have Null stored.
Example
<?php $a = NULL; echo $a; // It will not give any output ?>
Read More: PHP Constants
Conclusion
We learned about PHP data types and how to use them. The data type determines the operations that we can perform on it.
We hope we have given you all a clear idea about a data type and its importance, its types, and functions. Do check out further blogs on the different modules of PHP. Make sure to check out the previous blogs if you face any difficulty with the basics. Happy Learning!