Basic PHP Programming Question:

In a string context, PHP will automatically convert any numeric value to a string. Here is a PHP script examples:

<?php
print(-1.3e3);
print(" ");
print(strlen(-1.3e3));
print(" ");
print("Price = $" . 99.99 . " ");
print(1 . " + " . 2 . " = " . 1+2 . " ");
print(1 . " + " . 2 . " = " . (1+2) . " ");
print(1 . " + " . 2 . " = 3 ");
print(" ");
?>

This script will print:

-1300
5
Price = $99.99
3
1 + 2 = 3
1 + 2 = 3

The print() function requires a string, so numeric value -1.3e3 is automatically converted to a string "-1300". The concatenation operator (.) also requires a string, so numeric value 99.99 is automatically converted to a string "99.99". Expression (1 . " + " . 2 . " = " . 1+2 . " ") is a little bit interesting. The result is "3 " because concatenation operations and addition operation are carried out from left to right. So when the addition operation is reached, we have "1 + 2 = 1"+2, which will cause the string to be converted to a value 1.