PHP 5 Variables

Variables are "containers" for storing information.

Creating (Declaring) PHP Variables

In PHP, a variable starts with the $ sign, followed by the name of the variable:

Example

<?php
$txt = "Hello world!";
$x = 5;
$y = 10.5;
?>

After the execution of the statements above, the variable $txt will hold the value Hello world!, the variable $x will hold the value 5, and the variable $y will hold the value 10.5.
Note: When you assign a text value to a variable, put quotes around the value.
Note: Unlike other programming languages, PHP has no command for declaring a variable. It is created the moment you first assign a value to it.

Note

Think of variables as containers for storing data.

PHP Variables
A variable can have a short name (like x and y) or a more descriptive name (age, carname, total_volume).
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)

Note

Remember that PHP variable names are case-sensitive!

Output Variables

The PHP echo statement is often used to output data to the screen.

The following example will show how to output text and a variable:

Example

<?php
$txt = "Hello world!";
$x = 5;
$y = 10.5;
?>

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