Question

with a new array I do this:

$aVal = array();

$aVal[key1][var1] = "something";
$aVal[key1][var2] = "something else";

Is there a similar syntax for an object

(object)$oVal = "";

$oVal->key1->var1 = "something";
$oVal->key1->var2 = "something else";

Answer 1

$x = new stdClass();

A comment in the manual sums it up best:

stdClass is the default PHP object.
stdClass has no properties, methods or
parent. It does not support magic
methods, and implements no interfaces.

When you cast a scalar or array as
Object, you get an instance of
stdClass. You can use stdClass
whenever you need a generic object
instance.