How to split a string in PHP?

Use explode($delimiter, $string). Example: explode(',', 'a,b,c') returns ['a', 'b', 'c'].

What is the difference between explode() and str_split()?

explode() splits by a delimiter string, str_split() splits into chunks of N characters.

Use the third parameter: explode(',', 'a,b,c,d', 2) returns ['a', 'b,c,d'].

String Function PHP 4+

The explode() function splits a string into an array using a delimiter.

explode(string $separator, string $string, int $limit = PHP_INT_MAX): array

Parameter	Type	Description
`$separator`	string	The delimiter to split by
`$string`	string	The string to split
`$limit`	int	Max number of elements (optional)

Returns an array of strings created by splitting the input string.

Output

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<?php
$csv = "apple,banana,cherry";
$fruits = explode(",", $csv);
print_r($fruits);
// ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
?>

<?php
$sentence = "Hello World PHP";
$words = explode(" ", $sentence);
print_r($words);
// ["Hello", "World", "PHP"]
?>

<?php
$str = "one-two-three-four";
$parts = explode("-", $str, 2);
print_r($parts);
// ["one", "two-three-four"]
?>

Tip: Use implode() to join array elements back into a string.