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PHP | Convert a string to character array

Given a string. Learn, how to convert it into a character array in PHP? By Bhanu Sharma Last updated : December 19, 2023

Prerequisites

To understand this example, you should have the basic knowledge of the following PHP topics:

• PHP Basic Syntax
• PHP Variables
• PHP Strings
• PHP gettype() Function
• PHP echo() Statement

Converting String to Character Array

Given a string and we have to convert it into a character array.

Example

Input: 
"WubbalubbaDubDub"

Output:
Array
(
    [0] => W
    [1] => u
    [2] => b
    [3] => b
    [4] => a
    [5] => l
    [6] => u
    [7] => b
    [8] => b
    [9] => a
    [10] => D
    [11] => u
    [12] => b
    [13] => D
    [14] => u
    [15] => b
)

PHP code to convert string to the character array

<?php
//PHP code to convert string to the 
//character array

//input string
$input = "WubbalubbaDubDub";

//converting string to character array
//using str_split()
$output = str_split($input);

//printing the types
echo "type of input : " .gettype($input) ."<br/>";
echo "type of output: " .gettype($output) ."<br/>";

//printing the result
echo "input: " .$input ."<br/>";
echo "output: " ."<br/>";
print_r($output);
?>

Output

type of input : string
type of output: array
input: WubbalubbaDubDub
output:
Array
(
    [0] => W
    [1] => u
    [2] => b
    [3] => b
    [4] => a
    [5] => l
    [6] => u
    [7] => b
    [8] => b
    [9] => a
    [10] => D
    [11] => u
    [12] => b
    [13] => D
    [14] => u
    [15] => b
)

Explanation

We use the PHP str_split() function to split individual characters from a string into a character array. The string ($input) is split into individual characters and stored into ($output) and then printed as an array using the print_r() function.

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