Variable inside eval or as assignment of eval

Question

there's a difference assigning a variable inside an eval or outside it as assignment?

eval ("\$variable = \"\$code\";")
$variable = eval($code)

I searched a lot for that information but I didn't find something about. Thanks.

Answer 1

Yes, there's a difference.

In the first case - eval("\$variable = \"\$code\";"); - the variable $variable will be declared, BUT its value will be a string of the code stored in vraiable $code.

Whereas the second case - $variable = eval($code); - will also declare a variable $variable, BUT the value will be anything the eval function returns (see docs) and it WILL process the code stored in variable $code.