What is the purpose of the PHP intval function?

The intval function is used to retrieve the integer value of a variable. Its syntax is:

intval ( $var, $base = 10 )

$var is the variable to retrieve an integer value, while $base is an optional parameter indicating the base to be used, with the default being decimal.

The intval function attempts to convert a variable into an integer and returns the result. If the variable cannot be converted into an integer, it will return 0. If the $base parameter is specified, the conversion will be done according to the specified base.