Are there specific keywords or conventions for initializing variables in PHP, similar to int or string in C?

In PHP, variables do not require explicit data type declarations like in languages such as C. PHP is a loosely typed language, meaning variables can hold different types of data without being explicitly defined. However, you can use type hinting in function parameters to specify the expected data type. Additionally, you can use type casting functions like (int) or (string) to explicitly convert variables to a specific type if needed.

// Type hinting in function parameters
function addNumbers(int $num1, int $num2) {
    return $num1 + $num2;
}

// Type casting
$number = "10";
$integerNumber = (int) $number;