Constant variables in PHP

Basic Concept
By declaring a variable as constant, it will available all over the program and only we can access it, cannot modify it.

In PHP we can declare a constant variable in two ways. That are using define() function and const keywords.

Before going to see deep difference between these, first look a simple program using these two methods.

Example 1:
<?php
define('PIE',3.143);
const SHAPE='Circle';

function fun()
{
       echo PIE.'<br />';
       echo SHAPE;
}

fun();
?>

Output:
3.143
Circle
?>

On above example there no difference between using define() and const. But it has following notable differences.

1. const execute on compile time and define() execute on run time. That is we cannot declare const under a function or and conditional statement like "if".

2. We cannot declare define() in class, but can declare const.

See the below complex example which is using define() and const in all possible manners.

Example 2:
<?php
define('REGISTER_NO',90323540126);  // Declaring a constant using define keyword in global.
const NAME = 'Ramasamy Kasi';          // Declaring a constant using const keyword in global.
const ROLL_NO = 35;

function fun()
{
define('DEPARTMENT','Computer Science'); // Declaring a constant using define inside a funtion.
// const TOTAL = 450;    // Try to declare a constant using const inside a funtion. ITS WRONG.

echo REGISTER_NO.'<br />'; // Accessing consatants inside a function.
echo NAME.'<br />';
}

class Test
{
// define('AVERAGE',90) // Try to declare a constant using define inside a class. ITS WRONG.
const SEMESTER = 1;          // Declaring a constant using const inside a class.

function sample()
{
echo self::SEMESTER.'<br />';          // WAY 1: Accessing class constant.
}
}

fun(); // Calling function.
echo ROLL_NO.'<br />'; // Accessing constant, which is created in side a function.
echo DEPARTMENT.'<br />'; // Accessing constant, which is created on global.
$obj=new Test();
$obj->sample(); // Calling class function.
echo TEST::SEMESTER; // WAY 2: Accessing class constant.
?>

Output:
90323540126
Ramasamy Kasi
35
Computer Science
1
1

Global variables in PHP

Basic Concept
By declaring a variable as Global(Common), we can access it any where of the program.

In C or C++
Here they don't use any special keyword to denote the variable as global. Say for example you defined  or declared a variable with a name in top of the program, now if you use the same name in any where of your program even inside a function, it will denote that as global variable.

Example 1:
#include<stdio.h>
// Global variables
int A=5;
int B=7;

int Add()
{
return A + B;
}

void main()
{
int answer; // Local variable
answer = Add();
printf("%d\n",answer);   // Output: 12
}

In PHP
Here to use global variable inside a function, first we have to declare it as "global".

Example 2:
<?php
$a = 1;
$b = 2;

function Sum()
{
    global $a, $b;
    $b = $a + $b;
}

Sum();
echo $b;   // Output: 3
?>

And one more way is we can use a super global valiable called $GLOBALS, intead of the keyword global.

Example 3:
<?php
$a = 1;
$b = 2;

function Sum()
{
    $GLOBALS['b'] = $GLOBALS['a'] + $GLOBALS['b'];
}

Sum();
echo $b;   // Output: 3
?>

We could not directly declare a class property as global variable. But we can get global variable under a function inside a class. So it can done by assigning global variable value on a property inside the constructor function.

Example 4:
<?php
$a=5;
class A
{
// private global $a; This is wrong statement. It will not going work.
        privare $a;

function __construct()
{
global $a;
$this->a=$a;
}

 function fun1()
{
global $a;
echo 'value of "a" inside class A is: '.$a;
}
}

$obj=new A();
$obj->fun1();
?>

References:
http://php.net/manual/en/language.variables.scope.php
http://www.codingunit.com/c-tutorial-functions-and-global-local-variables

Timezone in MySQL

By default mysql uses system timezone. That is the server computer's timezone.

Get current timezone:
mysql> select @@global.time_zone; // Will return over all mysql timezone.That is in mysql every user can had separate timezone. This return common timezone.
mysql> select @@session.time_zone;  // Will return current user's timezone.

Set timezone:
mysql> set GLOBAL time_zone = timezone; // Will set timezone for overall mysql.
mysql> set time_zone = timezone; // Will set timezone for current user.

Example timezone format: 'Europe/London', 'Asia/Kolkata'.