All variables in PHP are represented by one structure, the zval:
typedef struct _zval_struct { zvalue_value value; /* variable value */ zend_uint refcount__gc; /* reference counter */ zend_uchar type; /* value type */ zend_uchar is_ref__gc; /* reference flag */} zval;
The zval_value is a union which can represent all types a variable may hold:
typedef union _zvalue_value { long lval; /* long value */ double dval; /* double value */ struct { char *val; int len; /* this will always be set for strings */ } str; /* string (always has length) */ HashTable *ht; /* an array */ zend_object_value obj; /* stores an object store handle, and handlers */} zvalue_value;
It should be clear from the structures above that a variable can be of one type, the variable data is represented by the appropriate field in the zval_value union. The zval itself holds the type, reference count and a flag to indicate if a variable is a reference.