Learning key advanced string handling differences

String functions in general have been tightened and normalized in PHP 8. You will find that usage is more heavily restricted in PHP 8, which ultimately forces you to produce better code. We can say that the nature and order of string function arguments is much more uniform in PHP 8, which is why we say that the PHP core team has normalized usage.

These improvements are especially evident when dealing with numeric strings. Other changes in PHP 8 string handling involve minor changes to arguments. In this section, we introduce you to the key changes in how PHP 8 handles strings.

It's important to understand not only the handling improvements introduced in PHP 8 but also to understand the deficiencies in string handling prior to PHP 8.

Let's first have a look at an aspect of PHP 8 string handling in functions that search for embedded strings.

Handling changes to the needle argument

A number of PHP string functions...