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W3Schools
w3schools.com › php › func_string_str_starts_with.asp
PHP str_starts_with() Function
Check if a string starts with a specific substring.
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PHP
php.net › manual › en › function.str-starts-with.php
PHP: str_starts_with - Manual
Performs a case-sensitive check indicating if haystack begins with needle.
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PHP Tutorial
phptutorial.net › home › php tutorial › php str_starts_with
PHP str_starts_with(): Check If a String starts with a Substring
May 8, 2021 - <?php $str = 'PHP tutorial'; $substr = 'PHP'; $result = str_starts_with($str, $substr) ? 'is' : 'is not'; echo "The $str $result starting with $substr";Copy ... It’s important to keep in mind that the str_starts_with() function performs a case-sensitive search.
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Codecademy
codecademy.com › docs › php › string functions › str_starts_with()
PHP | String Functions | str_starts_with() | Codecademy
June 28, 2023 - Performs a case-sensitive search to check if a string starts with a given substring.
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W3Resource
w3resource.com › php-exercises › php-basic-exercise-95.php
PHP Exercise: Check if a given string starts with a given substring - w3resource
March 31, 2026 - <?php // Licence: https://bit.ly/2CFA5XY // Function definition for 'startsWith' that takes a haystack string and a needle string as parameters function startsWith($haystack, $needle) { // Use 'strpos' to find the position of the needle in the haystack // Check if the position is at the beginning (index 0) of the haystack return strpos($haystack, $needle) === 0; } // Call 'startsWith' with a haystack string and a needle string, then display the result using 'print_r' print_r(startsWith('Hi, this is me', 'Hi')); ?>
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › ref_string_startswith.asp
Python String startswith() Method
Well organized and easy to understand Web building tutorials with lots of examples of how to use HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, Python, PHP, Bootstrap, Java, XML and more.
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Jonasjohn
jonasjohn.de › snippets › php › starts-with.htm
PHP Starts with - Jonas John
March 28, 2006 - * * @param string * @param string * @return bool */ function StartsWith($Haystack, $Needle){ // Recommended version, using strpos return strpos($Haystack, $Needle) === 0; } // Another way, using substr function StartsWithOld($Haystack, $Needle){ return substr($Haystack, 0, strlen($Needle)) == $Needle; }
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GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › php › php-startswith-and-endswith-functions
PHP | startsWith() and endsWith() Functions - GeeksforGeeks
July 11, 2025 - bool startsWith( string, startString ... parameter is used to hold the text which need to test. startString: The text to search at the beginning of String....
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w3tutorials
w3tutorials.net › blog › startswith-and-endswith-functions-in-php
How to Write startsWith() and endsWith() Functions in PHP: Check String Prefixes and Suffixes — w3tutorials.net
By the end, you’ll be equipped to handle string prefix/suffix checks confidently in any PHP environment. ... Custom vs. Built-in: When to Use Which? ... The startsWith() function checks if a given string begins with a specified substring (prefix).
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › jsref › jsref_startswith.asp
JavaScript String startsWith() Method
The startsWith() method returns true if a string starts with a specified string.
Find elsewhere
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Uptimia
uptimia.com › home › questions › how to use startswith() and endswith() functions in php?
How To Use StartsWith() And EndsWith() Functions In PHP?
October 7, 2024 - For PHP versions before 8.0, you can create custom functions to check string prefixes and suffixes. The startsWith() function checks if a string begins with a specific substring.
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Tutorialspoint
tutorialspoint.com › php › php_str_starts_with_function.htm
PHP String str_starts_with() Function
Below is the syntax of the PHP String str_starts_with() function − · bool str_starts_with ( string $string, string $search ); Here are the parameters of the str_starts_with() function − · $string − (Required) It is the string to search in.
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OnlinePHP
onlinephp.io › str-starts-with
str_starts_with - Online Tool
Execute and test str_starts_with with this online tool
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Codemia
codemia.io › home › knowledge hub › startswith() and endswith() functions in php
startsWith() and endsWith() functions in PHP
December 28, 2024 - PHP 8.0 introduced built-in str_starts_with() and str_ends_with() functions that check whether a string begins or ends with a given substring. Before PHP...
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › php › php_ref_string.asp
PHP String Functions
The PHP string functions are part of the PHP core. No installation is required to use these functions. ... Ad-free learning, track your progress, earn XP, streaks, compete in leagues, build and host websites, unlock coding challenges, and much more! ... If you want to use W3Schools services as an educational institution, team or enterprise, send us an e-mail: sales@w3schools.com
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Université Pierre et Marie Curie
www-ppti.ufr-info-p6.jussieu.fr › doc-online › PHP › php-chunked-xhtml › function.str-starts-with.html
Checks if a string starts with a given substring
<?php $string = 'The lazy fox jumped over the fence'; if (str_starts_with($string, 'The')) { echo "The string starts with 'The'\n"; } if (str_starts_with($string, 'the')) { echo 'The string starts with "the"'; } else { echo '"the" was not found because the case does not match'; } ?>
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W3Schools
w3schools.com › php › php_string.asp
PHP Strings
A string is a sequence of characters, like "Hello world!".
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Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 834303 › startswith-and-endswith-functions-in-php
string - str_starts_with and str_ends_with functions in PHP - Stack Overflow
Top answer
1 of 16
1872

PHP 8.0 and higher

Since PHP 8.0 you can use:

str_starts_with and
str_ends_with

Example
var_dump(str_starts_with('|apples}', '|'));
var_dump(str_ends_with('|apples}', '}'));

PHP before 8.0

function startsWith( $haystack, $needle ) {
     $length = strlen( $needle );
     return substr( $haystack, 0, $length ) === $needle;
}

function endsWith( $haystack, $needle ) {
    $length = strlen( $needle );
    if( !$length ) {
        return true;
    }
    return substr( $haystack, -$length ) === $needle;
}
2 of 16
1105

PHP < 8

You can use substr_compare function to check start-with and ends-with:

function startsWith($haystack, $needle) {
    return substr_compare($haystack, $needle, 0, strlen($needle)) === 0;
}
function endsWith($haystack, $needle) {
    return substr_compare($haystack, $needle, -strlen($needle)) === 0;
}

This should be one of the fastest solutions on PHP 7 (benchmark script). Tested against 8KB haystacks, various length needles and full, partial and no match cases. strncmp is a touch faster for starts-with but it cannot check ends-with.

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Medium
medium.com › @mark.comeau › php-8-str-starts-with-e99e3f9bb29a
PHP 8: str_starts_with. QUICK TIPS ON USING PHP FUNCTIONS | by Mark Comeau | Medium
May 31, 2025 - PHP 8: str_starts_with QUICK TIPS ON USING PHP FUNCTIONS str_starts_with() is a built-in PHP 8 function that checks if a string begins with a given substring. It performs a case-sensitive search and …
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CSS-Tricks
css-tricks.com › snippets › php › test-if-string-starts-with-certain-characters-in-php
Test if String Starts With Certain Characters in PHP | CSS-Tricks
February 2, 2020 - <?php function startsWith($string, $startString) { $len = strlen($startString); return (substr($string, 0, $len) === $startString); } // usage echo startsWith("cat", "c"); // true echo startsWith("dog", "x"); // false ?>