Pseudo-types and variables used in this documentation

Pseudo-types are keywords used in the PHP documentation to specify the types or values an argument can have. Please note that they are not primitives of the PHP language. So you cannot use pseudo-types as typehints in your own custom functions.

mixed

mixed indicates that a parameter may accept multiple (but not necessarily all) types.

gettype() for example will accept all PHP types, while str_replace() will accept strings and arrays.

number

number indicates that a parameter can be either integer or float.

callback

callback pseudo-types was used in this documentation before callable type hint was introduced by PHP 5.4. It means exactly the same.

array|object

array|object indicates that a parameter can be either array or object.

void

void as a return type means that the return value is useless. void in a parameter list means that the function doesn't accept any parameters. As of PHP 7.1 void is accepted as a function return type hint.

...

$... in function prototypes means and so on. This variable name is used when a function can take an endless number of arguments.