Related Topics
- - PHP Introduction
- - Installation Process
- - PHP Variables
- - Datatypes In PHP
- - Typecasting In PHP
- - Operators In PHP
- - Decision-Making In PHP
- - Loops In PHP
- - Arrays In PHP
- - File Handling In PHP
- - Functions in PHP
- - Regular expressions In PHP
- - Object-Oriented Programming In PHP
- - PHP Sessions
- - Exception Handling
- - Serialization
PHP Variables
A variable in PHP is the name of the memory location that holds data. In PHP, a variable is declared using the $ sign followed by the variable name.
The main way to store information in the middle of a PHP program is by using a variable. Here are the most important things to know about variables in PHP.
- All variables in PHP are denoted with a leading dollar sign ($).
- The value of a variable is the value of its most recent assignment.
- Variables are assigned with the = operator, with the variable on the left-hand side and the expression to be evaluated on the right.
- Variables can but do not need to be declared before assignment.
- Variables in PHP do not have intrinsic types - a variable does not know in advance whether it will be used to store a number or a string of characters.
- Variables used before they are assigned have default values.
- PHP does a good job of automatically converting types from one to another when necessary.
(This is covered in-depth in our hands-on Web Development Course)
Rules for PHP variables:
- A variable starts with the $ 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 can only contain alpha-numeric characters and underscores (A-z, 0-9, and _ )
- Variable names are case-sensitive ($age and $AGE are two different variables)
Syntax of declaring a variable is:
$variablename=value;
<?php
$x = 5;
$y = 4;
echo $x + $y;
?>
Constant:
A constant is a name or an identifier for a simple value. A constant value cannot change during the execution of the script. By default, a constant is case-sensitive. To define a constant, you have to use the define() function and to retrieve the value of a constant, you simply have to specify its name. You can also use the function constant() to read a constant's value if you wish to obtain the constant's name dynamically.
Function Parameters
Function parameters are declared after the function name and inside parentheses. They are declared much like a typical variable would be.
Global Variables
In contrast to local variables, a global variable can be accessed in any part of the program. However, in order to be modified, a global variable must be explicitly declared to be global in the function in which it is to be modified. This is accomplished, conveniently enough, by placing the keyword GLOBAL in front of the variable that should be recognized as global. Placing this keyword in front of an already existing variable tells PHP to use the variable having that name.
Local Variables
A variable declared in a function is considered local; that is, it can be referenced solely in that function. Any assignment outside of that function will be considered to be an entirely different variable from the one contained in the function.
Static Variables
The final type of variable scoping that I discuss is known as static. In contrast to the variables declared as function parameters, which are destroyed on the function's exit, a static variable will not lose its value when the function exits and will still hold that value should the function be called again. You can declare a variable to be static simply by placing the keyword STATIC in front of the variable name.