We can determine the type of a variable by using PHP's gettype() function.
PHP gettype() function has the following syntax.
gettype(var);
The function then returns the variable's type as a string.
<?PHP//ww w . j a v a 2 s . c om
$test_var; // Declares the $test_var variable without initializing it
echo gettype( $test_var ) . "\n"; // Displays "NULL"
$test_var = 15;
echo gettype( $test_var ) . "\n"; // Displays "integer"
$test_var = 1.23;
echo gettype( $test_var ) . "\n"; // Displays "double"
$test_var = "Hello, world!";
echo gettype( $test_var ) . "\n"; // Displays "string"
?>
The code above generates the following result.
The $test_var
variable initially has a type of null,
because it has been created but not initialized.
After setting $test_var's value to 15, its type changes to integer.
Setting $test_var to 1.23 changes its type to double.
Finally, setting $test_var to "Hello, world!" alters its type to string.
In PHP, a floating - point value is simply a value with a decimal point. So if 15.0 was used instead of 15 in the preceding example, $test_var would become a double, rather than an integer.