WEB APPLICATIONS

PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

PHP Functions
Dr. Charles Severance
www.wa4e.com
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

Why Functions?
• PHP has lots of built-in functions that we use all the time.
• We write our own functions when our code reaches a
certain level of complexity.
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

To function or not to function...

• Organize your code into paragraphs - capture a complete
thought and name it .

• Don t repeat yourself - make it work once and then reuse it.

• If something gets too long or complex, break up logical chunks

and put those chunks in functions.

• Make a library of common stuff that you do over and over -

perhaps share this with your friends...
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

PHP Documentation - Google

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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

PHP Documentation - Google

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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

Built-In Functions...
• Much of the power of PHP comes from its built-in functions.

• Many are modeled after C string library functions (i.e. strlen()).

echo strrev(" .dlrow olleH"); Hello world.

echo str_repeat("Hip ", 2);
Hip Hip
echo strtoupper("hooray!");
echo strlen("intro");
HOORAY!
echo "\n"; 5
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

Defining Your Own Functions

We use the function keyword to define a function, we name the
function and take optional argument variables. The body of the
function is in a block of code { }

function greet() {
print "Hello\n"; Hello
} Hello

greet();
greet();
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Choosing Function Names

• Much like variable names - but do not start with a dollar sign

• Start with a letter or underscore - consist of letters, numbers,

and underscores ( _ )

• Avoid built-in function names

• Case does not matter – but please do not take advantage of this
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

Return Values
Often a function will take its arguments, do some computation, and
return a value to be used as the value of the function call in the calling
expression. The return keyword is used for this.

function greeting() {
return "Hello"; Hello Glenn
} Hello Sally

print greeting() . " Glenn\n";

print greeting() . " Sally\n";
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Arguments
Functions can choose to accept optional arguments. Within the function
definition the variable names are effectively “aliases” to the values passed in
when the function is called.

function howdy($lang) {
if ( $lang == 'es' ) return "Hola"; Hola Glenn
if ( $lang == 'fr' ) return "Bonjour";
return "Hello"; Bonjour Sally
}

print howdy('es') . " Glenn\n";

print howdy('fr') . " Sally\n";
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

Optional Arguments
Arguments can have defaults, and so can be omitted.

function howdy($lang='es') {
if ( $lang == 'es' ) return "Hola";
if ( $lang == 'fr' ) return "Bonjour";
return "Hello"; Hola Glenn
} Bonjour Sally
print howdy() . " Glenn\n";
print howdy('fr') . " Sally\n";
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

Call By Value
• The argument variable within the function is an “alias” to the actual
variable.
• But even further, the alias is to a *copy* of the actual variable in the
function call.
function double($alias) {
$alias = $alias * 2; Value = 10 Doubled = 20
return $alias;
}
$val = 10;
$dval = double($val);
echo "Value = $val Doubled = $dval\n";
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Call By Reference
Sometimes we want a function to change one of its arguments, so we
indicate that an argument is “by reference” using ( & ).

function triple(&$realthing) {
$realthing = $realthing * 3; Triple = 30
}

$val = 10;
triple($val);
echo "Triple = $val\n";
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

http://php.net/manual/en/function.sort.php
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PHP Functions FOR EVERYBODY

Acknowledgements / Contributions
These slides are Copyright 2010- Charles R. Severance (www.dr- Continue new Contributors and Translators here
chuck.com) as part of www.wa4e.com and made available under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Please maintain this
last slide in all copies of the document to comply with the
attribution requirements of the license. If you make a change, feel
free to add your name and organization to the list of contributors
on this page as you republish the materials.

Initial Development: Charles Severance, University of Michigan

School of Information

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