What does . mean in PHP?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Reference - What does this symbol mean in PHP?

Consider this code example:

{
    $n1 = ucfirst(strtolower($n1));
    $n2 = ucfirst(strtolower($n2));
    $n3 = ucfirst(strtolower($n3));
    return $n1 . " " . $n2 . " " . $n3;
}

My book says the code will display:

William Henry Gates (each name is the value of the variables)

So what do the . in between the quotes and the next variable do? I must have read over it, and I look back for it, but I couldn't find it.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 19 '12 at 00:49

4

It concatenates (merges) strings

answered Sep 19 '12 at 00:49

bartvanraaij

323
1
8

Ah I see. Simple enough. Thanks! – PolarisUser Sep 19 '12 at 00:52

score 4 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 19 '12 at 00:59

Concatenation

Since you are trying to return the variable $n1 with a space $n2 with another space and $n3

You can also check String Operator from PHP Manual for more information about this

One of the example to use the . operator or refer to String Operator from PHP manual

<?php
 $a = "Hello ";
 $b = $a . "World!"; // now $b contains "Hello World!"

 $a = "Hello ";
 $a .= "World!";     // now $a contains "Hello World!"
?>

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 19 '12 at 00:49

2

The . operator concatenates strings.

The code converts $n1, $n2, and $n3 into lowercase, then capitalizes the first letter, then combines all three names together with a space between each name.

answered Sep 19 '12 at 00:49

Tuanderful

1,337
1
10
13

What does . mean in PHP?

3 Answers3