PHP VARIABLES, DATA
TYPES AND
CONSTANTS
PHP Variables
• Variables are used to store data, like string of text,
numbers, etc. Variable values can change over the course
of a script. Here're some important things to know about
variables:
• In PHP variable can be declared as: $var_name = value;
Naming Conventions for PHP Variables
These are the following rules for naming a PHP variable:
• All variables in PHP start with a $ sign, followed by the
name of the variable.
• A variable name must start with a letter or the underscore
character _.
• A variable name cannot start with a number.
• A variable name in PHP can only contain alpha-numeric
characters and underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _).
• A variable name cannot contain spaces.
• PHP variables are case-sensitive, so $name and $NAME
both are treated as different variable.
Data Types in PHP
• PHP supports total eight primitive data types:
- Integer
- Float
- String
- Booleans
- Array
- Object
- Resource
- NULL
PHP Integers
• Integers are whole numbers, without a decimal point (..., -
2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ...).
PHP Floating Point Numbers or Doubles
• Floating point numbers (also known as "floats", "doubles",
or "real numbers") are decimal or fractional numbers
PHP Strings
• Strings are sequences of characters, where every
character is the same as a byte.
• A string can hold letters, numbers, and special characters
and it can be as large as up to 2GB.
• The simplest way to specify a string is to enclose it in
single quotes (e.g. 'Hello world!'), however you can also
use double quotes ("Hello world!").
PHP Booleans
• Booleans are like a switch it has only two possible values
either 1 (true) or 0 (false).
PHP Arrays
• An array is a variable that can hold more than one value
at a time.
• It is useful to aggregate a series of related items together,
for example a set of country or city names.
• An array is formally defined as an indexed collection of
data values.
• Each index (also known as the key) of an array is unique
and references a corresponding value.
PHP Object
• An object is a data type that not only allows storing data
but also information on, how to process that data.
• An object is a specific instance of a class which serve as
templates for objects.
• Objects are created based on this template via the new
keyword.
• Every object has properties and methods corresponding
to those of its parent class.
• Every object instance is completely independent, with its
own properties and methods, and can thus be
manipulated independently of other objects of the same
class.
PHP Null
• The special NULL value is used to represent empty
variables in PHP.
• A variable of type NULL is a variable without any data.
NULL is the only possible value of type null.
PHP Resources
• A resource is a special variable, holding a reference to an
external resource.
• Resource variables typically hold special handlers to
opened files and database connections.
Constants
• A constant is a name or an identifier for a fixed value.
• Constant are like variables, except that once they are
defined, they cannot be undefined or changed.
• PHP constants can be defined by 2 ways:
- Using define() function
- Using const keyword
Constants(contd.)
• PHP constant: define() - Use the define() function to
create a constant. It defines constant at run time.
define(name, value)
- name: It specifies the constant name.
- value: It specifies the constant value.
Constants(contd.)
<?php
// case-sensitive constant name
define("WISHES", "Good Evening");
echo WISHES;
?>
OUTPUT:
Good Evening
Constants(contd.)
• PHP constant: const keyword - PHP introduced a
keyword const to create a constant. The const keyword
defines constants at compile time. It is a language
construct, not a function. The constant defined using
const keyword are case-sensitive.
<?php
const WISHES="Good day";
echo WISHES;
?>
OUTPUT:
Good day
Constants(contd.)
• Constant() function - There is another way to print the
value of constants using constant() function.
• The syntax for the following constant function:
constant (name)
Constants(contd.)
<?php
define("WISHES", "Good Evening");
echo WISHES. "<br>";
echo constant("WISHES");
//both are similar
?>
OUTPUT:
Good Evening
Good Evening
Constants(contd.)
• PHP Constant Arrays - In PHP, you can create an Array
constant using the define() function.
<?php
define("courses", [
"PHP",
"HTML",
"CSS"
]);
echo courses[0];
?>
OUTPUT:
PHP
Constants(contd.)
• PHP Constant Arrays - In PHP, you can also create an
Array constant using const keyword.
<?php
const WISHES=array("PHP",
"HTML",
"CSS");
echo WISHES[0];
?>
OUTPUT:
PHP
Constants(contd.)
• Constants are Global - Constants are automatically
global and can be used across the entire script.
<?php
define("WISHES", "Good Evening");
function test() {
echo WISHES;
}
test();
?>
OUTPUT:
Good Evening
