PHP Functions Essential Reference

print_r

bool print_r(mixed variable) 

Displays information about a variable in a human-readable format.

Returns:

TRUE; NULL if no arguments are provided

Description:

print_r() displays information about a variable in a format meant to be easily understandable by humans. It is often used for debugging—providing a simple and easy way to display the current contents of a variable. (However, var_dump() provides more complete information and allows for the use of multiple arguments.)

For simple scalar variables, such as booleans, integers, strings, and doubles, the value contained in the variable is printed.

Resource pointers have their type (resource) and ID number displayed (such as #1, #2, or #45). The ID number assigned to a resource pointer ...