# Variables Smarty has several types of variables. The type of the variable depends on what symbol it is prefixed or enclosed within. - [Variables assigned from PHP](language-assigned-variables.md) - [Variables loaded from config files](language-config-variables.md) - [{$smarty} reserved variable](language-variables-smarty.md) Variables in Smarty can be either displayed directly or used as arguments for [tags](../language-basic-syntax/language-syntax-tags.md), [attributes](../language-basic-syntax/language-syntax-attributes.md) and [modifiers](../language-modifiers/index.md), inside conditional expressions, etc. To print a variable, simply enclose it in the [delimiters](../../designers/language-basic-syntax/language-escaping.md) so that it is the only thing contained between them. ```smarty {$Name} {$product.part_no} {$product.description} {$Contacts[row].Phone} ``` ## Scopes You can assign variables to specific [variable scopes](language-variable-scopes.md). > **Note** > > An easy way to examine assigned Smarty variables is with the > [debugging console](../chapter-debugging-console.md).