PHP Combine two strings

Question

Is there a way in php to make two strings combine to one? I want to combine strings with the same size together?

$string1 = "apple"
$string2 = "block"
//FUNCTION STUFF HERE
$output = "abplpolcek";

In C# we'd call it 'Zipping' two strings together, since they act like a zipper (1 side is put in, then the other; rinse, lather, repeat). — George Stocker
– George Stocker, Commented Aug 21, 2012 at 10:29

Fluffeh · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-20 09:03:00Z

6

You could try this:

$output='';
for($i=0;$i<strlen($string1);$i++)
{
    $output.=$string1[$i];
    $output.=$string2[$i];
}

echo $output;

Or you can write a simple function like this:

function funnyConcatStrings($str1, $str2)
{
    $output='';
    $leng=strlen($str1);
    if(strlen($str1)==strlen($str2))
    {
        for($i=0;$i<$leng;$i++)
        {
            $output.=$str1[$i];
            $output.=$str2[$i];
        }
    }
    else
    {
        $output='Strings were not equal.\n';
    }
    return $output;
}

// Use it like this:

$mashedString=funnyConcatStrings($string1, $string2);

// or

echo funnyConcatStrings($string1, $string2);

edited Aug 20, 2012 at 9:03

answered Aug 20, 2012 at 8:54

Fluffeh

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4 Comments

VettelS Over a year ago

You shouldn't have strlen() in the loop like that- it should be outside the loop as as it's not executed each iteration.

Fluffeh Over a year ago

@VettelS I edited it again to make a nice function that replaces the initial answer.

Francisco Presencia Over a year ago

I edited and put the strlen($str1) in the for loop, no need for that extra line. Also, why did you do $output='';? In a function that has no global variables it should have that value already.

Fluffeh Over a year ago

@FrankPresenciaFandosn there is no need to check the length with each iteration - better to check it once and keep using that value, what if there were a billion iterations? That's a lot of wasted CPU cycles. As for the $output=''; it is so that you can use the .= without throwing warnings.

VettelS · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-20 08:56:27Z

2

$str_length = 5;
$output = '';

for($i = 0; $i < $str_length; $i++)
{
    $output .= $string1[$i] . $string2[$i];
}

answered Aug 20, 2012 at 8:56

VettelS

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Comments

ka_lin · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-20 08:55:27Z

1

use for instance $string1[0] ( letter 'a' ) to access the first letter and make a for loop

answered Aug 20, 2012 at 8:55

ka_lin

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3 Comments

ka_lin Over a year ago

@Ionut Flavius Pogacian : Dode, you do not have to post code for such an easy task, we are here to provide answers based on the question, when learning you make baby steps, it was clear he didn`t know how to get characters from string

ka_lin Over a year ago

But you agree that this is high-school algorithmics and I assume that every person has basic programming knowledge and should use his brain...

Ionut Flavius Pogacian Over a year ago

yes, basics, but clearly, he does not know how to do it; he needs code, not explanations; ok, changing to +1

Ionut Flavius Pogacian · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-20 08:56:49Z

1

Really easy;

$a = 'abcdef';
$b = 'ghijkl';

$l = strlen($a);

$s='';

for($i=0;$i<$l;$i++)$s .= $a[$i] + $b[$i];

echo $s;

answered Aug 20, 2012 at 8:56

Ionut Flavius Pogacian

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Comments

René Höhle · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-20 08:58:58Z

1

1.) Check if the string have the same lengts with strlen

2.) Then you can iterate through the string and access them as an array

$string = 'test123';
echo $string[0] -> 't'

Then you can combine the string and safe them in a new variable.

answered Aug 20, 2012 at 8:58

René Höhle

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1 Comment

René Höhle Over a year ago

Then you should read the question. "I want to combine equal sized strings together?". He will combine equal sized string. This don't mean clearly that the string have the same length. So you should check it first.

Kasia Gogolek · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-20 09:05:54Z

0

This will work for strings that are different lenght as well

$string1 = "apple";
$string2 = "block";

$arr1 = str_split($string1);
$arr2 = str_split($string2);

if(count($arr1) > 0)
{
    foreach($arr1 as $key => $value)
    {
        $_tmp[] = $value;
        if(isset($arr2[$key]))
        {
            $_tmp[] = $arr2[$key];
        }
    }
}
else
{
    $key = 0;
}

if($key + 1 < count($arr2))
{
    for($i = $key + 1; $i < count($arr2); $i++)
    {
        $_tmp[] = $arr2[$key];
    }
}

echo implode("", $_tmp);

edited Aug 20, 2012 at 9:05

answered Aug 20, 2012 at 8:56

Kasia Gogolek

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1 Comment

Dejan Marjanović Over a year ago

string is already an array of chars... $x = 'string'; echo $x[2]; # r

Utopia · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-04 12:40:11Z

0

echo str_shuffle("apple" . "block");

result: aekbplopcl

edited Feb 4, 2017 at 12:40

answered Feb 16, 2015 at 21:55

Utopia

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1 Comment

willeM_ Van Onsem Over a year ago

You need to provide an explenation as well, even if it is (quite) trivial.

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