note 35781 modified in function.serialize by aidan

I think an example is in order to specify what is meant by "returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of value that can be stored anywhere." Here's an example: <?php echo serialize("php"); ?> Result is as follows: s:3:"php"; The cryptic result is a string indicating that the serialized data is itself a string of 3 bytes whose value is "php". --was-- I think an example is in order to specify what is meant by "returns a string containing a byte-stream representation of value that can be stored anywhere." Here's an example: $data = "php"; $serialized_data = serialize($data); echo $serialized_data; Result is as follows: s:3:"php"; The cryptic result is a string indicating that the serialized data is itself a string of 3 bytes whose value is "php". http://php.net/manual/en/function.serialize.php