What are PHP string functions?
Why Interviewers Ask This
Interviewers use this question to quickly assess whether a candidate has the foundational knowledge required for PHP development. It reveals whether you understand the building blocks that more complex concepts rely on.
Answer
PHP provides a rich library of built-in string functions. Commonly used ones: strlen($str) (length), strtolower($str) / strtoupper($str) (case conversion), trim($str) (strip whitespace from both ends), str_replace($find, $replace, $str) (find and replace), strpos($str, $needle) (find position of first occurrence — returns false if not found), substr($str, $start, $length) (extract substring), explode($delimiter, $str) (split string into array), implode($glue, $array) (join array into string), sprintf($format, $args) (format a string), str_pad(), str_repeat(), and htmlspecialchars() (escape HTML entities for security).
Pro Tip
Back up your answer with a specific project or situation. Saying 'In my last PHP project, I used this when...' immediately makes your answer more credible and memorable.
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