What is the result of the expression $a = ‘5’ + 2; echo gettype($a);?

Question

PHP Intermediate — Medium

What is the result of the expression $a = ‘5’ + 2; echo gettype($a);?

Accepted Answer

In PHP, the arithmetic addition operator forces string operands containing numeric values to be converted into integers or floats. Since '5' is a numeric string and 2 is an integer, the result of the addition is the integer 7. Therefore, gettype() returns 'integer'.