PHP Convert to String with Example

PHP Convert to String with Example

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How to Convert String to Int in PHP?

PHP convert to string is a method of the language to convert element values into another data type or to be specific, converting any data type into a string.

This method can include or make use of several PHP built-in functions.

Programmers may use different functions to convert strings into integers or vice versa.

To specify these functions and know how to implement them, take a tour of the following procedures and discussions.

The following discussions are made to give you different ideas and alternatives for converting int to string.

Each of them has examples and you can test their example in your PHP environment.

If you want to set up your own, refer to the Setup PHP Development Environment topic.

Convert a PHP Integer to a String using Inline Variable Parsing

The first to discuss is how to convert a PHP integer to a string using inline variable parsing.

To discuss the use of inline variable parsing, it lets you assign the values of variables or parameters to a variable or use the values themselves in your source code.

Therefore, if a variable and a parameter share the same name, the value of the parameter will be utilized. Let us have a simple example program.

Example:

<?php
$sample_int = 14;
echo "The string is: $sample_int";
?>

Output:

The string is: 14

As you can see in our first example, it simply includes the variable $sample_int within the string "The string is: $sample_int".

Through this method, you can directly call out the value of the variable and display it along the string of the echo function.

This method is the simplest form of converting integers (int data type) into strings.

However, when we encounter complex scenarios, we cannot directly apply this kind of method, especially when using conditional statements.

Use strval() Function to Convert an Integer to a String in PHP

The PHP strval() function can convert an integer into a string. Let us take a look at its example program.

Example:

<?php  
$sample_int = 14;
$sample_str = strval($sample_int);
echo "The converted integer to string using the strval() is $sample_str.";  
?>

Output:

The converted integer to string using the strval() is 14.

This example shows that we can also use the strval() function to convert the integers into strings in PHP.

Therefore, the second example gives you another option when you’d like to apply or convert an integer into a string.

Moreover, the second method enables you to specify the process or line of code where you convert the integer into a string.

However, this use of the strval() function is limited to single-value integers only, it does not apply to arrays and other object forms.

Use explicit casting to convert a PHP integer to a string.

Another interesting method to convert integers to strings in PHP is by using explicit casting.

When we use explicit casting, it is like converting any form of variable value into another form manually.

This means that we are forcing the program to convert the value of a variable (which is int) into a string using the ‘(string)‘ command.

Let’s take a look at the example of using explicit casting to convert integers to strings.

Example:

<?php  
$sample_int = 14;
$sample_str = (string)$sample_int;
echo "The converted integer to string is $sample_str.";  
?>

Output:

The converted integer to string is 14.

The output of the third method as well as the example shows that using explicit casting in PHP can also support the conversion of integers to strings.

The third method also makes another option that you can choose when you need to convert variable values (data types) in PHP.

Use String Concatenation to Convert an Integer to a String in PHP

This time, we also have the string concatenation as a method to convert an integer to a string in PHP.

Concatenation is a process where we can combine data or elements into a single value without gaps in between.

Take a look at the example below:

Example

<?php  
$sample_int = 14;
$sample_str = "The integer is converted to a string and its value is ". $sample_int .".";
echo "$sample_str";  
?>

Output:

The integer is converted to a string and its value is 14.

This example shows the exact implementation of concat method or concatenation.

It simply connects the element in the string to convert the integer in PHP.

To connect the data, you will use the dot (.) in between the values of the string, even if the other data is of a different data type.

The program will understand and get the value of that variable instead of displaying the literal variable.

Though all of the PHP functions above are different in their implementation, they have this single goal which is to convert an integer into a string.

This is because the bottom line of the discussion is to give you ideas for converting any datatype of the object in PHP into strings.

Summary

This discussion provides four of the most efficient ways to do the said task.

To summarize the useful PHP functions, we have inline variable parsing, strval() function, explicit casting, and concatenation.

These four PHP methods are proven to be efficient in converting integer elements into strings.

The proof of their efficiency are shown in the example above, and you can also use those example for your project.

To try them, simply copy the codes and run them into your PHP environment.

If you want to add some more, you can always comment your concerns below. Thanks and have a good day.

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