What does string() “value" mean when using var_dump

Question

When using var_dump on a string I get the return of string(12) “55″. What does this mean exactly? The value of 55 makes sense as that's what the string is defined as but what does string(12) represent?

Answer 1

It's the length of the string. I don't see why your script is saying 12 though..

http://codepad.viper-7.com/Bb4dfx

Answer 2

It means the variable is a string of length 12. The length of 12 can be caused by:

• additional whitespace before/after 55 (use the trim() function)
• HTML within the string

A string is series of characters, where a character is the same as a byte.