PHP and Algorithmic Thinking for the Complete Beginner

Chapter 14 Manipulating Strings

14.1 Introduction

Generally speaking, a string is anything that you can type using the keyboard, including letters, symbols (such as &, *, and @), and digits. In PHP, a string is always enclosed in single or double quotes.

Below is a PHP script that uses strings.

$a = "Everything enclosed in double quotes is a string, even the numbers: ";

$b = "3, 54, 731";

echo $a, $b;

echo "\nYou can even mix letters, symbols and digits like this: \n";

echo "3 + 4 equals 7";

Many times programs and scripts deal with data that comes in the form of strings (text). Strings are everywhere—from word processors, to web browsers, to text messaging programs. Many exercises in this book actually make extensive use of strings. Even though ...