PHP Functions
Gets the codepage of the current process.
A function is a block of code that can be called in your script to perform an action. You can use built-in PHP functions (such as print(), var_dump(), mysql_connect()), or you can write your own. Functions are started with the keyword function and are contained within curly brackets
Variable Scope
When you assign a variable to a function, php registers it in its symbol table with an internal data structure that identifies both the variable type and its value. When a function is called, php looks in its symbol table for the entry with the function name and executes it. If you add the global keyword to a function definition, it means that references to the variable within the function have the same value and memory-space as those outside the function.