PHP pass variable outside of function without global variables - php

Question

Let's say I have a function in php like this:
<?php function hello() {
$x = 2;
}
and I want to use that variable outside of this function without using global, since I've heard it's a bad idea because of it's security issues. (right?).
Anyway, what is the best way to get this value out? I would be able to do this in java by using "this". But not sure how that works in PHP. Thanks.
Update:
This is the code I needed help with:
<?php
require('includes/connect.php');
function connectHouseObjects() {
global $mysqli;
/* Register a prepared statement */
if ($stmt = $mysqli->prepare('SELECT x FROM house_room1 WHERE user_id = ?')) {
/* Bind parametres */
$stmt->bind_param('i', $user_id);
/* Insert the parameter values */
$user_id = 1;
/* Execute the query */
$stmt->execute();
/* Bind resultatet */
$stmt->bind_result($x);
while ($stmt->fetch()) {
//looping through the x's and y's
}
/* Close statement */
$stmt->close();
return $x;
} else {
/* Something went wrong */
echo 'Something went terrible wrong' . $mysqli->error;
}
}
?>

Answer 1

John Conde is right but to show you the code it would be
<?php
function hello() {
$x = 2;
return $x;
}
$var = hello();
echo $var;
?>

Answer 2

You can simply return your data:
function hello() {
$x = 2;
return $x;
}
and use its result wherever you want;
$x=hello();

Answer 3

Take this for example:
<?php
function hello(){
$x=2;
//this is where you get it out
return $x;
}
//here we are outside the function
$x = hello();
//$x now equals 2;
?>
Returning the variable from the function allows you to call the function and assign it outside.
Going more object oriented:
<?php
class Talk
{
protected $message;
public function setMessage($message){
//this will set your class variable to what ever is in $message
$this->message = $message;
}
public function getMessage()
{
//This will give you what ever your current message is
return $this->message;
}
}
//Then to use this you could do
$talk = new Talk();
//That sets up $talk to be an instance of the talk class
$talk->setMessage('Hello');
//This will then sets the message in talk to hello then to retrieve it just do
$message = $talk->getMessage();
//Now outside the class we have a variable $message that contains 'Hello'

Answer 4

You may also create a class, just like in Java, and use a class variable that can be accessed from other functions in that class.

Answer 5

You can simply return the value outside the function:
<?php
function hello() {
$x = 2;
return $x;
}
$x = hello();
If you want to return more than one value, you can use the list() function, while returning values as an array:
<?php
function hello() {
$x = 2;
$y = 3;
return array($x, $y);
}
list($x, $y) = hello();
You can find more information about the list() in the PHP manual