Printf, print, echo, sprintf, vprintf, vfprintf, vsprintf Statements in PHP

There are many ways to output string expressions in PHP. In this post, I will explain the expressions echo, print, printf, sprintf, vprintf, vfprintf, vsprintf, which seem to be similar to each other but have various differences, and how they are used.

1.) echo :

• It prints a string output to the screen. String can contain HTML expressions.
• It is not a real function. It comes with the structure of the language.
• It does not return a value when executed. Doesn’t behave like a function
• The echo statement can be used as echo and echo().
• If double quotes are used, variables can be used inside the string expression.

$x = 5;
echo "Hello world!";
echo "<h2> PHP is wonderful language. </h2>";
echo "Number is : $x";
// Output: Hello world!
// Output: PHP is wonderful language.
// Output: Number is : 5 

2.) print:

• Outputs a formatted string.
• Since the print statement is not a real function, there is no need to use parentheses. It comes with the structure of the language.
• It always returns 1 when executed.

$x = print "Hello world! <br>";
echo $x;
//Output :  Hello world!
//Output : 1

3.) printf:

• Outputs a formatted string.
• Returns the length of the string output when executed.

$number = 5;
$str = "London";
$x = printf("There are %u million people in %s. <br>",$number,$str);
echo $x;
//Output: There are 5 million people in London.
//Output: 42

4.) sprintf:

• Returns the formatted string.

$number = 5;
$str = "London";
$x = sprintf("There are %u million people in %s. <br>",$number,$str);
echo $x;
//Output: There are 5 million people in London.

If the arguments are to be used in more than one place, the \$ expression is used.

$number = 5;
$str = "London";
$x = sprintf("There are %1\$u million people in %s. <br> Second usage place: %1\$u",$number,$str);
echo $x;
//Output: There are 5 million people in 5.
	     Second usage place: 5

5.) vprintf:

• Output a formatted string.
• It behaves like printf, except it takes array as an argument instead of variables.
• Returns the length of the formatted string.

$number = 5;
$str = "London";
$x = vprintf("There are %u million people in %s. <br>", [$number,$str]);
echo $x;
//Output: There are 5 million people in London.
//Output: 42

6.) vsprintf:

• Returns the formatted string value.
• It behaves like sprintf, except it takes array as an argument instead of variables.

$number = 5;
$str = "London";
$x = vsprintf("There are %u million people in %s. <br>", [$number,$str]);
echo $x;
//Output: There are 5 million people in London.

7.) vfprintf:

• Writes a formatted string to a file.

$number = 5;
$str = "London";
$file = fopen("test.txt","w");
vfprintf("There are %u million people in %s. <br>", [$number,$str]);

test.txt dosyasına There are 5 million people in London expression is written in test.txt .

The table below shows the format values you can use for variables in string expressions.

Good luck…