# var_dump

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

var_dump — Dumps information about a variable

### Description

void var_dump ( mixed `$expression` [, mixed `$expression` [, `$...` ]] )

This function displays structured information about one or more expressions that includes its type and value. Arrays and objects are explored recursively with values indented to show structure.

In PHP 5 all public, private and protected properties of objects will be returned in the output.

Tip

As with anything that outputs its result directly to the browser, you can use the output-control functions to capture the output of this function, and save it in a string (for example).

### Parameters

`expression`

  The variable you want to export.

### Return Values

No value is returned.

### Examples

Example#1 var_dump() example

`<?php
$a = array(1, 2, array("a", "b", "c"));
var_dump($a);
?>`

The above example will output:

    array(3) {
      [0]=>
      int(1)
      [1]=>
      int(2)
      [2]=>
      array(3) {
        [0]=>
        string(1) "a"
        [1]=>
        string(1) "b"
        [2]=>
        string(1) "c"
      }
    }

`<?php
$b = 3.1;
$c = true;
var_dump($b, $c);
?>`

The above example will output:

    float(3.1)
    bool(true)

### See Also

- var_export()
- print_r()