PHP Data Types
PHP supports several data types including strings, integers, floats, booleans, arrays and more.
Syntax
var_dump($variable);Variables can store data of different types. PHP supports the following primitive types:
- String — a sequence of characters.
- Integer — a whole number.
- Float — a number with a decimal point.
- Boolean —
trueorfalse. - Array — stores multiple values.
- NULL — a variable with no value.
- Object — an instance of a class.
The var_dump() function shows both the type and value of a variable.
Example
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Press Run to execute the code.
When to use it
- Validate that a form's age field holds an integer before inserting it into a database.
- Choose the right data type when defining a product price column to avoid precision errors.
- Use gettype() to debug an unexpected value returned from a third-party API.
More examples
Detecting a variable's type
gettype() returns the current type of any variable as a human-readable string.
<?php
$name = "Alice";
$age = 30;
$price = 9.99;
$active = true;
echo gettype($name); // string
echo gettype($age); // integer
echo gettype($price); // double
echo gettype($active); // booleanType-checking with is_* functions
The is_string() and is_int() family of functions let you branch safely on type before operating on a value.
<?php
$value = "42";
if (is_string($value)) {
echo "It is a string.";
}
if (!is_int($value)) {
echo "Not an integer.";
}var_dump for full type inspection
var_dump() prints each value's type and content, making it invaluable when debugging mixed-type structures.
<?php
$data = ["id" => 1, "score" => 4.5, "active" => false];
var_dump($data);
// array(3) {
// ["id"] => int(1)
// ["score"] => float(4.5)
// ["active"] => bool(false)
// }
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