PHP variable life cycle/ scope - php

Question

I'm a Java developer and recently I'v been tasked with PHP code review. While going through the PHP source code, I'v noticed that a variable is initialised in an if, while, switch and do statement then same variable is used outside these statements. Below is a fragment the code
Senario 1
if ($status == 200) {
$messageCode = "SC001";
}
// Here, use the $message variable that is declared in an if
$queryDb->selectStatusCode($message);
Senario 2
foreach ($value->children() as $k => $v) {
if ($k == "status") {
$messageCode = $v;
}
}
// Here, use the $messageCode variable that is declared in an foreach
$messageCode ....
In my understanding, a variable declared in a control statement is only accessible with in the control code block.
My question is,
what is the variable scope of a variable in a PHP function and how is this variable accessible outside a control statement block?
How is that above code working and producing expected results?

Answer 1

In PHP control statements have no separate scope. They share the scope with the outer function or the global scope if no function is present. (PHP: Variable scope).
$foo = 'bar';
function foobar() {
$foo = 'baz';
// will output 'baz'
echo $foo;
}
// will output 'bar'
echo $foo;
Your variables will have the last value assigned within the control structure. It is good practice to initialize the variable before the control structure but it is not required.
// it is good practice to declare the variable before
// to avoid undefined variables. but it is not required.
$foo = 'bar';
if (true == false) {
$foo = 'baz';
}
// do something with $foo here
Namespaces do not affect variable scope. They only affect classes, interfaces, functions and constants (PHP: Namespaces Overview). The following code will output 'baz':
namespace A {
$foo = 'bar';
}
namespace B {
// namespace does not affect variables
// so previous value is overwritten
$foo = 'baz';
}
namespace {
// prints 'baz'
echo $foo;
}