Numbers and arithmetic operations are a fundamental part of programming. In this lesson, we’ll learn how to use and manipulate numbers in PHP.

PHP has two number data types. The integer data type includes positive and negative whole numbers (such as 3, 4599, -98, and 0). The floating point data type is used to represent decimal numbers (such as 4.98273, 2.1, -9.7, -182736.8).

echo 5; // Prints: 5
echo -22.8; // Prints: -22.8

We can also declare variables and assign numbers as their values:

$my_int = 78;
$my_float = -897.21;

echo $my_int; // Prints: 78
echo $my_float; // Prints: -897.21

In the code above, we created the $my_int variable and assigned the integer value of 78 to it. Next, we created the $my_float variable and assigned the floating point value of -897.21 to it.

Let’s practice making number variables!