echo vs. print

[poLka]

Heya! Could you explain to me the big differences between [print()] and [echo]. And when you'd want to use one over the other. Cheers!

[seanf]

Print returns 1 on success and 0 on failure. If you don't need to check if something printed successfully then you are wasting one byte per print. So, always use echo unless you need to check that something actually printed, though I've never encountered a situation when I had to check!

Sean

[poLka]

hehe, thanks agian duder. cheers!

[seanf]

Your welcome, again! Remember, you can always give someone positive reputation if they've helped you out - see the little green plus with an orange minus under it next to the edit button

Sean

[torrent]

Also, you can specify multiple, comma-delimited, arguments with echo. E.g.

<?php
$action = "Test";
echo $action, " this! ", "-End-";
?>

So echo should win everytime. Having said that, I pretty much use print all the time [img]images/smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Mike]

You're welcome, again! Remember, you can always give someone positive reputation if they've helped you out - see the little green plus with an orange minus under it next to the edit button

Sean

[seanf]

My English ain't so good

Sean

[v-book.com]

I didn't know there was a difference between those, now I know.

[poLka]

torrent, i'm confused mate... could you clarify your last statement.

[Cam]

Here's a good thread on this topic

http://www.sitepointforums.com/showt...threadid=91258

He mean that you can pass multiple arguements to echo(), but you can't with print().

$var1 = "testing ";
$var2 = "echo() ";
$var3 = "now.";

echo($var1, $var2, $var3); // output: testing echo() now. 

You can't do that with print().

[mythix]

hmmmmm, so what's printf exactly?

[torrent]

<?php
//very basic example
$foo = "One";
$bar = "Two";
printf("Foo = %s, Bar = %s", $foo, $bar);
?>

Will print

Foo = One, Bar = Two

You can also format the output (for example, floating point numbers, etc). More info at ye olde:

http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.printf.php

[mythix]

More info at ye olde

Yeah guess I could have bothered to look, lol. Is there actually any advantage of being able to do that?

[torrent]

A couple, the formatting of numbers is very useful. You might have a number like this 1.234556, but you can use printf() to display it like this 1.23, saves you having to write any code to truncate the number.

Sometimes it's more legible if you have a number of variables within a string, to show the string as:

printf("Error in your MySQL: Error Number [%s], Error Text [%s]\n Logged at [%s]", $errNo, $errTxt, $timestamp); 

Very subjective really. Some (like me) like them, and some do not.
If you wish to store the resultant string to a scalar then use sprintf()

[website]

Your welcome, again! Remember, you can always give someone positive reputation if they've helped you out - see the little green plus with an orange minus under it next to the edit button

Sean

hehe , why don't you make Important topic here that says this? I hardly get any

[redemption]

Remember, you can always give someone positive reputation if they've helped you out - see the little green plus with an orange minus under it next to the edit button

Nice suggestion, sean

[poLka]

Also, you can specify multiple, comma-delimited, arguments with echo. E.g.

<?php
$action = "Test";
echo $action, " this! ", "-End-";
?>

So echo should win everytime. Having said that, I pretty much use print all the time [img]images/smilies/smile.gif[/img]

i'm sorry, i meant your closing statement... whaddya mean by it?

[poLka]

what about this? compared to echo...

function funkshun(){
  $tmp = "number";
  return $tmp;
}

$var1 = "hello";
$var2 = funkshun();
$var3 = 7;

print( "$var1 ".$var2." $var3" );

[seanf]

hehe , why don't you make Important topic here that says this? I hardly get any

Good suggestion. Done

Nice suggestion, sean

I thought so

Sean

[redemption]

Good suggestion. Done

Great!

How about the other forums? Is it possible to make a sticky that spans the Programming forums?

[poLka]

is everything about status nowadays? can't ya just take pride in giving good advice? :d cheers guys, this place is great!

[seanf]

It's not about status, it helps promote the friendly attitude of the forums

Sean

[poLka]

phuken eh, well i'm just playin... you know i gave you a positive when you asked earlier. how do they work anyway? i have to post so much before i can give a positive or negative?

[seanf]

You can give positive or negative, but the amount varies by how long you've been a member, how many posts you've made and your reputation level

Sean

[torrent]

i'm sorry, i meant your closing statement... whaddya mean by it?

I really wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it. To be honest you use what you feel comfortable with. From a performance perspective I know of no differences between print and echo.