PHP explode() Function

The explode() function is an inbuilt function in PHP used to split a string into different strings. The explode() function splits a string based on a string delimiter, i.e. it splits the string wherever the delimiter character occurs. This function returns an array containing the strings formed by splitting the original string.

Syntax:

array explode(separator, OriginalString, NoOfElements)

Parameters:

The explode function accepts three parameters of which two are compulsory and one is optional. All the three parameters are described below

1. separator: This character specifies the critical points or points at which the string will split, i.e. whenever this character is found in the string it symbolizes end of one element of the array and the start of another.
2. OriginalString: The input string that is to be split in an array.
3. NoOfElements: This is optional. It is used to specify the number of elements of the array. This parameter can be any integer (positive, negative, or zero)
   • Positive (N): When this parameter is passed with a positive value it means that the array will contain this number of elements. If the number of elements after separating with respect to the separator emerges to be greater than this value the first N-1 elements remain the same and the last element is the whole remaining string.
   • Negative (N): If the negative value is passed as a parameter then the last N element of the array will be trimmed out and the remaining part of the array shall be returned as a single array.
   • Zero: If this parameter is Zero then the array returned will have only one element i.e. the whole string.
   • When this parameter is not provided the array returned contains the total number of elements formed after separating the string with the separator.

Return Type: The return type of the explode() function is an array of strings.

Examples:

Input : explode(" ", "Geeks for Geeks")
Output : Array(
    [0] => Geeks
    [1] => for
    [2] => Geeks
)

The below program illustrates the working of explode() in PHP:

PHP

<?php

// original string
$OriginalString = "Hello, How can we help you?";

// Without optional parameter NoOfElements
print_r(explode(" ", $OriginalString));

// With positive NoOfElements
print_r(explode(" ", $OriginalString, 3));

// With negative NoOfElements
print_r(explode(" ", $OriginalString, -1));

?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Hello,
    [1] => How
    [2] => can
    [3] => we
    [4] => help
    [5] => you?
)
Array
(
    [0] => Hello,
    [1] => How
    [2] => can we help you?
)
Array
(
    [0] => Hello,
    [1] => How
    [2] => can
    [3] => we
    [4] => help
)