var_dump(): Gives all information about a variable

<?php
$var=5;
echo var_dump($var); // Output int(5)
echo "<br>";
$var='5';
echo var_dump($var); // Output  string(1) "5" 
echo "<br>";
$var=5.8;
echo var_dump($var); // output float(5.8) 
echo "<br>";
$var=+5;
echo var_dump($var); // Output int(5)
echo "<br>";
$var=-5;
echo var_dump($var); // Output  int(-5) 
echo "<br>";
$var='a123';
echo var_dump($var); // output  string(4) "a123" 
echo "<br>";
$var=True;
echo var_dump($var); // output  bool(true)
?>

Output is here

int(5) 
string(1) "5" 
float(5.8) 
int(5) 
int(-5) 
string(4) "a123" 
bool(true)

By using var_dump function we can get all details about the variable used. This function returns nothing and can take more than one variable as input. Let us try some examples.

$a=5;
var_dump($a);

The above code will return like this

int(5)

Now let us try bit different by using one string variable

$a='testing';
var_dump($a);

The output is here

string(7) "testing" 

We get all information about the string variable $a in above line. The length of the string is 7 here. Now let us try by using more than one variable.

$a=5.9;
$b='testing';
var_dump($a,$b);

Output is here

float(5.9) string(7) "testing"

We can add one array variable to our input to var_dump function.

$a=5.9;
$b='testing';
$ar=array('testing',' only ', ' at ', ' plus2net');
var_dump($a,$b,$ar);

The output is here

float(5.9) string(7) "testing" array(4) 
{ [0]=> string(7) "testing" [1]=> string(6) " only " [2]=> string(4) " at " [3]=> string(9) " plus2net" } 

Example: Debugging Arrays and Objects

$arr = array("name" => "John", "age" => 25);
var_dump($arr);

class Person {
    public $name;
    public function __construct($name) {
        $this->name = $name;
    }
}
$person = new Person("Alice");
var_dump($person);

Example: Preventing Sensitive Data Dumping

$password = "secret";
$userData = ["username" => "john", "password" => $password];
unset($userData['password']);  // Remove sensitive data before dumping
var_dump($userData);

Explanation:
Complex Data Debugging: Demonstrates how to use `var_dump()` to output details of arrays and objects.
Sensitive Information: Explains how to avoid exposing sensitive data while debugging.
Comparison: Discusses how `print_r()` is less detailed compared to `var_dump()` when printing complex data types.

This helps users understand how to apply `var_dump()` effectively for debugging and avoid potential security issues.
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