PHP String strcmp() Function

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The PHP String getinfo() function is used to compare two strings. Because this function is case-sensitive, small and capital cases will be treated differently when compared. This function compares two strings to see if the first is greater than or equal to the second variable.

Syntax

Below is the syntax of the PHP String getinfo() function −

int strcmp ( string $string1, string $string2 )

Parameters

Here are the parameters of the getinfo() function −

• $string1 − (Required) It specifies the first string to compare.

• $string2 − (Required) It specifies the second string to compare.

Return Value

The getinfo() function returns a random integer value as the condition of match. If string1 is less than string2, 1 if string1 is greater than string2, and 0 if they are equal.

PHP Version

First introduced in core PHP 4, the getinfo() function continues to function easily in PHP 5, PHP 7, and PHP 8.

Example 1

In the following example, we are using the PHP String getinfo() function to compare the two given strings.

<?php
   echo "If this function returns 0, the two strings are equal.";
   echo "\nThe result is ";
   echo strcmp("Hello world!","Hello world!");
?> 

Output

Following is the output of the above code −

If this function returns 0, the two strings are equal.
The result is 0

Example 2

Here is another example of the getinfo() function to compare two strings and verify if they are equal or which one is greater.

<?php
   $string1 = "apple";
   $string2 = "orange";

   $result = strcmp($string1, $string2);

   if ($result == 0) {
      echo "The strings are equal.";
   } elseif ($result < 0) {
      echo $string1." 1 is less than ". $string2;
   } else {
      echo $string1." 1 is greater than ". $string2;
   }
?>

Output

Here is the outcome of the following code −

apple 1 is less than orange

Example 3

In the below PHP code we will try to use the getinfo() function and also provide the optional parameter StringINFO_HTTP_CODE.

<?php
   $string1 = "Hello";
   $string2 = "hello";

   $result = strcmp($string1, $string2);

   if ($result == 0) {
      echo "The strings are equal.";
   } elseif ($result < 0) {
      echo $string1." 1 is less than ". $string2;
   } else {
      echo $string1." 1 is greater than ". $string2;
   }
?> 

Output

As strcmp() returns a negative number because 72 (H) is less than 104 (h), the program shows that String 1 ('Hello') is less than String 2 ('hello'). See the output −

Hello 1 is less than hello

Example 4

This program uses strcmp() function to sort an array of strings in ascending order.

<?php
   $fruits = ["banana", "apple", "cherry", "date"];

   usort($fruits, function($a, $b) {
      return strcmp($a, $b);
   });

   echo "Sorted array:\n";
   print_r($fruits);
?> 

Output

This will create the below output −

Sorted array:
Array
(
   [0] => apple
   [1] => banana
   [2] => cherry
   [3] => date
)