PHP str_starts_with() Function

The PHP str_starts_with() function is used to check if a string starts with a given substring. It performs case-sensitive check and returns true if the string starts with specified substring, else returns false.

Syntax

str_starts_with(str1, str2)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns true if str1 starts with str2, else returns false.

Example:

In the example below, str_starts_with() function is used to check whether the given string starts with specified substring or not.

<?php
$str1 = "Hello";

//checking whether $str1 starts with empty string
if(str_starts_with($str1, "")) {
  echo "Every string starts with an empty string.\n";
}

//checking whether $str1 starts with "lo"
if(str_starts_with($str1, "He")) {
  echo "$str1 starts with 'He'.\n";
}
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Every string starts with an empty string.
Hello starts with 'He'.

Example:

Consider one more example which illustrates on case-sensitive check using str_starts_with() function.

<?php
$str = "Hello John";

//checking whether $str starts with "HELLO"
if(str_starts_with($str, "HELLO")) {
  echo 'The string starts with "HELLO".';
} else {
  echo 'The string does not start with "HELLO". ';
  echo "\nCase does not match."; 
}
?>

The output of the above code will be:

The string does not start with "HELLO". 
Case does not match.