What are the Different Data Types in PHP and How to Use Them?

The values assigned to a PHP variable will be Different Data Types including numeric types and simple string to more complex data types as objects and arrays.
PHP data types define the type of data a variable can store, PHP supports a total of eight different types of data types Integer, Float, Array, String, Booleans, Object, resource, and NULL.
these PHP allows eight different types of data types are used to construct variable. let’s discuss all data types in detail, the first five data types are called simple data types and the last three data types are called the compound data types, or all eight different data types that can be categorized into three types

• Scalar Types (Predefined)
• Compound Types (User-defined)
• Special Types

PHP Different Data Types: Classification Data Types Table

PHP Boolean

Booleans are the simplest data type that works like a switch. It holds only two values:- FALSE (0) or TRUE (1)
therefore, for unsuccessful events return false, and for Successful events will return true, means that If the condition is correct, then it will return TRUE otherwise FALSE. Booleans are used in a program with conditional statements.
If a string is empty then in boolean data type is considered as false.
In Boolean, NULL Type values are treated as false, Apart from NULL, 0 is also considered as false.
Example:

<?php 
if(TRUE) 
	echo "This condition is TRUE"; 
if(FALSE) 
	echo "This condition is not TRUE"; 
?> 

Output:

This condition is TRUE

PHP Integer

Integer holds only whole numbers (Numeric data) with a negative or positive sign. i.e., numbers without fractional part or decimal points.

Example:-

<?php 
// decimal base integers 
$deci1 = 50; 
$deci2 = 654; 
// octal base integers 
$octal1 = 09; 
// hexadecimal base integers 
$octal = 0x34; 
$sum = $deci1 + $deci2; 
echo $sum; 
?> 

output

704

PHP Double or PHP Float

it can hold numbers decimal part or fractional including negative numbers and positive numbers. the variable adds a minimum number of decimal places by default.
Example:-

<?php 
$val1 = 14.42; 
$val2 = 887.11; 
$sum = $val1 + $val2; 
echo $sum; 
?> 

Output:-

901.53

PHP String

A string is a non-numeric data type. It holds any alphabets or letters, numbers, and even special characters.
the string is written within double quotes during declaration but it will be treated differently while printing variables.
To clarify this see the given the example at below.
Example:-

<?php   
    $website = "tutorialscan";  
    //both single and double quote statements will treat different  
    echo "Wellcome $cwebsite";  
    echo "</br>";  
    echo 'Wellcome $website';  
?>

Output:-

Wellcome tutorialscan
Wellcome $website

PHP Array

An array is a compound data-type. the array can store multiple values of the same data type, Below is an example of an array of integers.
Example:-

<?php   
    $cars = array ("Hyundai", "Tata", "Maruti");  
    var_dump($cars);   //the var_dump() function returns the datatype and values  
    echo "</br>";  
    echo "First Array Element: $cars[0] </br>";  
    echo "Second Array Element: $cars[1] </br>";  
    echo "third Array Element: $cars[2] </br>";  
?>

Output:-

array(3) { [0]=> string(7) "Hyundai" [1]=> string(4) "Tata" [2]=> string(6) "Maruti" }
First Array Element: Hyunadai
second Array Element: Tata
third Array Element: Maruti

PHP NULL Value

therefore, it is a special type of variable that holds only one value i.e., NULL. here, We follow the convention of writing it in capital form, but its case sensitive.

Example:-

<?php 
$data = NULL; 
echo $data; // as result it's gives no output 
?> 

PHP object

Objects are the instances of user-defined classes that can hold both functions and values, They must be explicitly declared. I will be discussed this topic in detail in further articles.
Example:-

<?php   
     class car {  
          function brand() {  
               $brand_name = "Hyundai";  
               echo "Car Brand: " .$brand_name;  
             }  
     }  
     $obj = new car();  
     $obj -> brand();  
?>

Output:-

Car Brand: Hyundai

PHP Resource

Resources are not an exact data type in PHP. These are basically used for the purpose to store references to external PHP resources or to some function call This is an external resource example consider that a database call.
A resource is a special variable, Resource variables typically hold special handlers database connections and to opened files. We will discuss in detail about resources further articles.

<?php
// Open a file for reading
$handle = fopen("data.txt", "r");
var_dump($handle);
echo "<br>";
 
// Connect to MySQL database server with default setting
$link = mysql_connect("localhost", "root", "");
var_dump($link);
?>

Predefine functions to Check a data type

Question: Check if a given variable holds an integer type of value then print the sum otherwise show an error message?

Different data Types: Example

<?php
$a = 750;
$b = 850;
if(is_int($a) && is_int($b))
{
 $sum = $a + $b;
echo "sum = ".$sum;
}
else
{
echo "both number must be an integer";
}
?>

Output:-

1600

Explanation:-

As you have seen in the given above the following example first Create two-variable $a which holds the value=100, and $y which hold the value=500, now execute if..else condition. then We pass is_int( ) function -inside if condition, this function to check the value is an integer or not. if yes then the statement is executed and print the sum of two values. otherwise, if not else statement is executed it shows an error message.