Core Web Application Development with PHP and MySQL

Chapter 6. Strings and Characters of the World

We were introduced to the usage of strings in PHP in Chapters 1, "Getting Started with PHP," and 2, "The PHP Language"; however, there are a number of additional things we must consider when working with them, including how non-English speakers represent the characters of their languages, and how we, as application authors, deal with these.

By the end of this chapter, we will

• Know how PHP manages and stores strings internally

• Know the various character sets and standards in use throughout the world

• Know how to configure PHP to use Unicode internally

• Know about a number of functions that can parse, clean up, and search through strings in PHP