PHP strcmp Function | Case Sensitive String Comparison

PHP strcmp is an inbuilt Function in PHP. It compares two strings in a case-sensitive manner. Therefore, it treats lowercase and uppercase strings differently. The function compares and tells us if one string is greater, smaller or equal to the other string. In this article, we will discuss the PHP strcmp Function. Also, we will discuss a few examples of using it.

Syntax

strcmp($string1, $string2)

Parameters

The function expects two parameters. You need to pass both the strings you want to compare. Also, both the parameters are mandatory. The description of the parameters is as follows:

• string1: The first string for comparison.
• string2: The second string for comparison.

Return Value

The function returns the following:

• 0, if string1 = string2.
• Returns a negative integer (< 0) , if string1 < string2.
• Returns a positive integer (> 0), if string1 > string2.

Example

Consider the following example:

<?php 
  
// PHP program to illustrate the working of strcmp function
$string1 = "Welcome to Concatly"; 
$string2 = "Bringing Knowledge Together"; 
$string3 = "Welcome to Concatly"; 
  
// In this case both the strings are equal 
print_r(strcmp($string1, $string3)); 
/* 0 */
  
// In this case the first is greater 
print_r(strcmp($string2, $string1)); 
/* -21 */
  
// In this case the second is greater 
print_r(strcmp($string3, $string2)) 
/* 21 */
  
?> 

You should observe in the above example, the function returns 0 when both the strings are same. It returns a negative value when string1 is smaller than string2. Also, it returns a positive value when string1 is greater than string2.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we discussed the PHP strcmp Function. You can read more about it on the Official PHP Documentation. Also, you can read about more PHP String Functions on Concatly.