Variable declaration

[LittleJoe]

In application programming it's often best practise if not necessary to declare variables at the start of functions instead of just anywhere inside the function when first used. Does this make any difference in PHP?

function MyFunction(){$myVariable; // A lot of code $myVariable = OtherFunction();}

VERSUS

function MyFunction(){// A lot of code $myVariable = OtherFunction();}

[niche]

I declare them up-front though I don't think it makes a difference if they're not declared at the beginning.

[Ingolme]

In PHP, variables are declared the first time you use them. I don't find it convenient to have an extra line of $var1; $var2; $var3; at the beginning of a function.

[birbal]

especially if the variables are meant to be used in conditional structure it is best to explicitly initalize variable as default value before you use them.

[jeffman]

In strongly typed languages, you declare variables at the top of functions so that the compiler can allocate memory. PHP is weakly typed and allocates memory dynamically, so this type of declaration is not required. As others have pointed out, there may be practical reasons for naming/defining a variable before it is used, but this is not the same as a requirement.