In PHP it is not required to initialize variables before their usage. However, using uninitialized variables is considered bad practice and should be avoided because of the following reasons:

* The value and type of uninitialized variables depend on the context of their first usage. It is better to be explicit about those to avoid confusion.
* The interpreter raises a warning or a notice in many cases.

== Noncompliant Code Example

[source,php]
----
<?php

function getText(array $lines): string {
    foreach ($lines as $line) {
        $text .= $line;
    }

    return $text;
}
----

== Compliant Solution

[source,php]
----
<?php

function getText(array $lines): string {
    $text = "";

    foreach ($lines as $line) {
        $text .= $line;
    }

    return $text;
}
----

include::../see.adoc[]

ifdef::env-github,rspecator-view[]

'''
== Implementation Specification
(visible only on this page)

include::message.adoc[]

'''
== Comments And Links
(visible only on this page)

include::../comments-and-links.adoc[]
endif::env-github,rspecator-view[]