Functions in PHP


function in php


Functions in PHP

PHP functions are similar to other programming languages. A function is a piece of code which takes one more input in the form of parameter and does some processing and returns a value.

Why use Functions?

·        Better code organization – functions allow us to group blocks of related code that perform a specific task together.
·        Reusability – once defined, a function can be called by a number of scripts in our PHP files.
·        Easy maintenance- updates to the system only need to be made in one place.

PHP Built-in Functions

A function is a self-contained block of code that performs a specific task.
PHP has a huge collection of internal or built-in functions that you can call directly within your PHP scripts to perform a specific task, like print_r(), var_dump, etc.
For a complete list of useful PHP built-in functions, please check out PHP reference.

PHP User-Defined Functions

PHP also allows you to define your own functions. It is a way to create reusable code packages that perform specific tasks and can be kept and maintained separately form main program.

There are two parts which should be clear to you −
·        Creating a PHP Function
·        Calling a PHP Function

Creating a PHP Function

The basic syntax of creating a custom function can be give with:

Syntax –

function functionName()
{
     //Code to be executed
}

The declaration of a user-defined function start with the word function, followed by the name of the function you want to create followed by parentheses i.e. () and finally place your function's code between curly brackets {}.
A function name must start with a letter or underscore character not with a number, optionally followed by the more letters, numbers, or underscore characters. Function names are case-insensitive.

Example –

In this example of an user define function, that display an message:

<?php
//Define function
function msg()
{
     echo “Hello World!”;
}

//Calling Function
msg();
?>

PHP function with parameters (arguments)

PHP gives you option to pass your parameters inside a function. You can pass as many as parameters your like. These parameters work like variables inside your function. Following example:

Example – 1

<?php

//Define function
function name($name)
{
     echo “Welcome ”.$name;
}
//Calling function
name(“Cyberteak”);

?>

Example – 2

<?php

//Define function
function data($name, $birthofyear)
{
     echo $name.” is born in”. $birthofyear;
}

//Calling function
data(“CyberTeak”,”2018”);

?>

PHP Default Argument Value

You can also create functions with optional parameters — just insert the parameter name, followed by an equals (=) sign, followed by a default value, like this.

Example – 3

<?php
     function setWeight($weight = 50)
     {
          echo “The height is ”. $weight.”<br>”;
     }

     setWeight(100);
     setWeight(80);
     setWeight(); //Default argument
     setWeight(100);
?>

PHP Function - Returning Value

A function can return a value back to the script that called the function using the return statement. The value may be of any type, including arrays and objects.

Example – 4

<?php
     //Function Definition
     function add($a,$b)
     {
          $c = $a+$b;
          return $c;
     }
     //Calling Function
     echo add(10,20); //30
?>



Post a Comment

0 Comments