PHP Variables

A variable is used to store information like text, numbers, arrays, date etc…
When a variable is declared, it can be retrieved and manipulated over and over again in your script.
The assignment operator (=) used to assign value to a variable.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>

<html>

<head>

<title>PHP Example</title>

</head>

<body>

<?php

$full_name="Manu Majunatha";

echo $full_name;

</body>

</html>

Variable Naming Rules

All variables in PHP should start with a $ sign symbol. Below is an example for PHP variable declaration.

$var_name = value;

Variable names should not contain spaces as $full name, correct way of declaring it is $full_name.
Name can comprise letters, numbers, and underscore ( _ ) characters
The first character after the $ dollar sign must be a letter or an underscore character ( _ ) it cannot be a number.
If a variable name is more than one word, it should be separated with an underscore ($full_name), or with capitalization ($fullName)

In a strongly typed programming language like Java, you have to declare (define) the type and name of the variable before using it.
PHP is loosely typed language that you do not have to tell PHP which data type the variable is.
PHP automatically converts the variable to the correct data type, depending on its first assigned value.
From PHP 7 onwards you can specify type to a variable and by enabling the strict requirement, it will throw a "Fatal Error" on a type mismatch. You will learn more about strict and non-strict requirements

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