What is the best way to convert a string into a numeric value in PHP?

When converting a string into a numeric value in PHP, you can use the built-in functions like intval() or floatval() to convert the string into an integer or float, respectively. These functions will parse the numeric value from the string and return it as the desired numeric type. It is important to ensure that the string contains only numeric characters to avoid any errors during conversion.

// Example of converting a string to an integer
$string = "123";
$numericValue = intval($string);
echo $numericValue; // Output: 123

// Example of converting a string to a float
$string = "3.14";
$numericValue = floatval($string);
echo $numericValue; // Output: 3.14