strcasecmp(): Case insensitive string comparison

if (strcasecmp('PHP', 'php') === 0) {
    echo 'Same text ignoring case';}

echo strcasecmp("Hello world","HELLO WORLD"); // Output is 0

• 0 : if both strings are equal or matching
• < 0 : if string 1 is less than string 2
• > 0 : if string 1 is greater than string 2

$str1 = "Hello World";$str2 = "hello world";$result = strcasecmp($str1, $str2); // 0
if ($result === 0) {
    echo "Both strings are matching";} else {
    echo "Both strings are different";}

Both strings are matching

$str1 = "Hello";$str2 = "hello world";$result = strcasecmp($str1, $str2);if ($result < 0) {
    echo "First string sorts before the second" . PHP_EOL;}if ($result !== 0) {
    echo "Both strings are different";}

First string sorts before the second
Both strings are different

$str1 = "Hello World";$str2 = "hello";$result = strcasecmp($str1, $str2);if ($result > 0) {
    echo "First string sorts after the second" . PHP_EOL;}if ($result !== 0) {
    echo "Both strings are different";}

First string sorts after the second
Both strings are different

Example: Case-Sensitive vs Case-Insensitive Comparison

$str1 = 'Apple';$str2 = 'apple';var_dump(strcmp($str1, $str2) !== 0); // true (case-sensitive)
var_dump(strcasecmp($str1, $str2) === 0); // true (ignores ASCII case)

Example: Handling Empty Strings

$str1 = '';$str2 = 'test';var_dump(strcmp($str1, $str2) < 0); // true

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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