Variables are “container” used for storing information.

  • In PHP, a variable is declared using a $ sign
  • The assignment operator (=) used to assign value to a variable
  • To get the data type of a variable, use the var_dump() function.

PHP Variables Example:

<?php
$variable_name=value;  
?>

Note: As PHP is a loosely typed language, so we do not need to declare the data types of the variables. 

              It is automatically find the correct datatype.

PHP Variable Naming Conventions

There are a few rules that you need to follow when choosing a name for your PHP variables.

  • Variable names cannot contain spaces.
  • Variables names can contain letters (a-z and A-Z), numbers (0-9) and underscores (_).
  • Variable names can begin with letters or an underscore, but cannot begin with numbers.
  • PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending on its value.
  • The assignment operator (=) used to assign value to a variable.
  • Variable names are case-sensitive ($age and $AGE are two different variables)
<?php
$hello = "Hello World!";
$a_number = 4;
$anotherNumber = 8;
?>

Get the Type:

To get the data type of a variable, use the var_dump() function.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
	<?php
		$x = 10;
		var_dump($x);
	?>
</body>
</html>

Output:

int(10)