Convert Variable From Int To String In PHP

PHP, a popular scripting language particularly for web development, is used by developers worldwide for its simplicity and versatility. This article presents a simple way to convert an integer variable to a string variable in PHP, a task which can be achieved using a few different methods.

Code Snippet: Using the strval() Function

<?php 
$int = 123;
$str = strval($int);
var_dump($str);
?>

Code Explanation for Using the strval() Function

In the above PHP script, we have first initialized an integer variable $int as 123. The next line of the code is critical to how you can convert an integer into a string.

The in-built PHP function strval() is used here. This function is specifically used to get the string value of a variable. So, when we pass our integer variable $int inside the strval() function, it converts the integer into a string.

The variable $str is then the string form of our initial integer. Finally, to check the type of our newly converted string variable, we use the var_dump() function. This function in PHP is used to dump information about a variable, and it returns the type and value.

Executing this code would give us output: string(3) "123". This output confirms that our string variable $str is indeed a string and has the same value as our initial integer.

This is a straightforward and quick method to convert an integer variable into a string in PHP. It’s important for developers to know how to handle such conversions, as different data types carry different properties and are suited to different tasks.