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# Chapter 6. Types

# Introduction

PHP supports eight primitive types.

Four scalar types:

- boolean

- integer

- floating-point number (float)

- string

Two compound types:

- array

- object

And finally two special types:

- resource

- NULL

> Note: In this manual you'll often find `mixed` parameters. This pseudo-type indicates multiple possiblities for that parameter.

The type of a variable is usually not set by the programmer; rather, it is decided at runtime by PHP depending on the context in which that variable is used.

> Tip: If you want to check out the type and value of a certain expression, use var_dump().

> If you simply want a human-readable representation of the type for debugging, use gettype(). To check for a certain type, do not use gettype(), but use the `is_`type`` functions.

If you would like to force a variable to be converted to a certain type, you may either cast the variable or use the settype() function on it.

Note that a variable may behave in different manners in certain situations, depending on what type it is at the time. For more information, see the section on Type Juggling.

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