Setting types

[ph8edsicness]

Okay, the book I'm using to help teach me PHP gives me 2 ways to set the types of variables manually.

settype($variable, "type"); or
$variable = (type) $variable;

what is the reasoning for the two different ways? From what I'm understanding they do the same thing, does one have an advantage over the other? Does one allow for easier changing/modification in more complex programs?

Or is it just two ways to change variable types leaving it up to the programmer to choose the easiest way for him/her?

Thanks,
Ryan

[Anon]

There are some minor differences. With casting (your second example) you can change the value to a different type and assign it to another variable in one step; settype will always try to change the type of the same variable you pass it.

Also, the settype function will return true or false indicating if the operation succeeded; when casting the value you can't really tell if the conversion worked.

[ph8edsicness]

Okay, so would you recommend the settype function then?

[Anon]

One isn't necessarily better than the other. Just understand the differences and use whatever suits the task.