PHP Serialization

In PHP, serialization is used to store or pass any PHP values around without losing the value's type and structure.

Basically, serialization in PHP generates a storable representation of a PHP value.

PHP serialize() function

The PHP serialize() function is used to serialize any PHP value.

PHP Serialization Example

Let's see some examples given below, of serialization in PHP for different-different PHP type.

Serializing String in PHP

Here is an example demonstrates about serializing a string in PHP.

<html>
<head>
   <title>Serializing a String Value in PHP Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
   $original_string = "Hello PHP Serialization Tutorial on codescracker.com";
   $serialize_string = serialize($original_string);
   echo $serialize_string;
?>
</body>
</html>

Here is the sample output that will be shown in your browser after running the above PHP example of serializing a string value.

Serializing Double in PHP

Below is an example of serializing double in PHP.

<html>
<head>
   <title>Serializing a Double Value in PHP Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
   $original_value = 10.65;
   $serialized_value = serialize($original_value);
   echo $serialized_value;
?>
</body>
</html>

Below is the sample output of above serializing double in PHP example code:

In the same way, you can serialize both Float and Integer value in PHP. Now let's serialize boolean value in PHP using serialize() function.

Serializing Boolean in PHP

Below is an example of serializing boolean value in PHP.

<html>
<head>
   <title>Serializing Boolean Value in PHP Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
   // let's first check for true (boolean value)
   $orig_bool_val = true;
   $serialize_bool_val = serialize($orig_bool_val);
   echo $serialize_bool_val;
   
   echo "<hr/>";
   
   // now let's check for false (boolean value)
   $orig_bool_val = false;
   $serialize_bool_val = serialize($orig_bool_val);
   echo $serialize_bool_val;
?>
</body>
</html>

Below is the sample output produced by the above serializing boolean value example code in PHP.

Serializing Null in PHP

Let's serialize null value in PHP using the following example code:

<html>
<head>
   <title>Serializing Null in PHP Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
   $orig_null_val = null;
   $serialize_null_val = serialize($orig_null_val);
   echo $serialize_null_val;
?>
</body>
</html>

Following is the sample output of the above example code of serializing null in PHP.

Serializing Array in PHP

Let's serialize an array in PHP with the help of following example code:

<html>
<head>
   <title>Serializing an Array in PHP Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
   $orig_array_val = array(
      10,
      10.26,
      'Array Serialization',
      'boolean'=>false,
      null
   );
   $serialize_array_val = serialize($orig_array_val);
   echo $serialize_array_val;
?>
</body>
</html>

Here is the sample output of the above serializing an array value in PHP example code:

Serializing Object in PHP

Now let's serialize an object in PHP using the following example code:

<html>
<head>
   <title>Serializing an Object in PHP Example</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
   class className
   {
      var $varName = 20;
      function functionName()
      {
         return 'return value';
      }
   }
   $orig_object = new className();
   $serialize_object = serialize($orig_object);
   echo $serialize_object;
?>
</body>
</html>

Below is the sample output produce by the above example code of serializing an object in PHP.