The PHP 4 method of declaring a variable, using the var keyword, was deprecated in early versions of PHP 5. Even though it's not
considered deprecated in the most recent versions, it's nonetheless not best practice to use it. When var does appear, it is interpreted
as a synonym for public and treated as such. Therefore public should be used instead.
From the PHP Manual:
The PHP 4 method of declaring a variable with the var keyword is still supported for compatibility reasons (as a synonym for the public keyword). In PHP 5 before 5.1.3, its usage would generate an E_STRICT warning.
<?php
class Foo
{
var $bar = 1;
}
<?php
class Foo
{
public $bar = 1;
}