title: PHP - Getting a float variable internal value
body: <p>I am trying to establish the delta I need when doing float comparison in PHP. <strong>I want to take a closer look at my variables to see the difference.</strong></p>
  
  <p>I have 2 computed variables, $a, $b.</p>
  
  <pre><code>$a = some_function();
  
  $b = some_other_function();
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>How can I see the exact number which PHP uses? </p>
  
  <p>I want to compare them with this formula, where I need to specify the delta:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$delta = 0.00001;
  if (abs($a-$b) &lt; $delta) {
    echo "identical";
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>var_dump($a, $b) returns 1.6215; 1.6215. but I know that they are not exactly equal because</p>
  
  <pre><code>var_dump($a === $b);
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>evaluates to false;</p>
  
  <p>Why doesn't <code>var_dump()</code> print the internal value?</p>