How PHP treats White Spaces

Question

I would like to know how php treats white spaces. Reducing a white spaces in my php coding

will reduce the page loading time ?
Will reduce empty spaces in my view source ?
Will reduce my program compiling time ?

Example of my code

<?php 
include('head.php');
-- Here is white space --
include('body.php');
-- Here is white space --
include('footer.php');
?>

inside body.php

<?php 

echo $lhs = '<div class="lhs">my content</div>';



   white

   spaces..


echo $main = '<div class="main">my content</div>';

   white

   spaces..


echo $footer ='<div class="footer">my content </div>';

?>

My live Coding Part

<?php include('config.php'); ?>
<!DOCTYPE HTML> 
<html>
<?php include(ROOT.'head.php'); ?>
<body>  
<div id="container">        
    <?php
    // header items => logo , searchbar , compare , myaccount/login
    include(ROOT.'headeritems.php');
    //WEBSITE MENUS
    include(ROOT.'sitemenus.php');    
    if ($page!="index"){ include(ROOT.'otherpagenotification.php'); }
    ?>        
        <div id="breadO" <?php echo ($page!="index")? 'class="bannerShd2"' :''; ?> >
        <div id="bread">
            <?php include(BREADCRUMBS); ?>
        </div>
        </div>
</div>

HTML View Source

1.
2.
3.       
4.    
5.  <!DOCTYPE HTML> 
6.  <html>
7.  <head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <title>Samsung Galaxy Note 3</title>
    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" />
    <meta name="description" content="" />
    <meta name="author" content="name" />

<meta name="rating" content="General" />

line number 1 to 4 is the white space like this many are in my view source

Removing white space from PHP source will make no measurable difference to anything, except possible the readability of the code. — , Jul 02 '14 at 05:19
I don't think white spaces have much to do about performance .. however they can increase the readability and file size .. — Qarib Haider, Jul 02 '14 at 05:19
Understand that the contents of a PHP script are not downloaded by the client - just the output. — Marty, Jul 02 '14 at 05:27
when i see view source of my page i found many white spaces then i reduced unnecessary spaces in php especially when i echo the results if the result is empty it has white space . that made many white space in view source. — Raaga, Jul 02 '14 at 05:27
@sectus Do u want me to show view source code along with php — Raaga, Jul 02 '14 at 05:41
@Raaga, it's not whitespace. It's end of line. After '?>' before '<!' you have end of line which shows on result page. — sectus, Jul 02 '14 at 05:53

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:03

Actually inside the PHP script white there is no problem, in case if you use white space before and after php script which means

-------Space-----
<?php

?>

-----Space ---

will make an error called Header Problems. You will get an error like follwing

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output 
started at /some/file.php:12) in /some/file.php on line 23

Try to avoid white space like

1.
2.
3.       
4.    
5.  <!DOCTYPE HTML> 
6.  <html>
7.  <head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <title>Samsung Galaxy Note 3</title>
    <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" />
    <meta name="description" content="" />
    <meta name="author" content="name" />

<meta name="rating" content="General" />

For more details please check the following link: How to fix "Headers already sent" error in PHP

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 02 '14 at 07:05

PHP ignores white spaces. The White spaces in your page source is not from your php file.You are missing out of some thing

FYI

<html>



<?php
echo 1;
/*

These white space will be ignored by php , It won't affect your HTML code



*/
echo 2;
?>



<!-- But this white spaces above or below PHP tag will be reflected in HTML source code -->


</html>

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 02 '14 at 05:25

0

Q: Will reduce the page loading time ? A: No

Q: Will reduce empty spaces in my view source ? A: No

Q: Will reduce my program compiling time ? A: No

answered Jul 02 '14 at 05:25

Sultan

637
6
14

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 06 '15 at 04:22

This Is Space After Calling Html Code File.
Like Inside Function.php Or Our Custome Function File Included(widget File, Meta Box File.etc BackEnd File) Space.
Please Remove Between Two Function Space Like As
WRONG :
<?php
function 1....
?>
[consider As A HTML Space]---------Remove This Part 
<?php
function 2....
?> 
Right :
<?php
function 1....

function 2....
?> No Break Between Two Function

<?php
Code ....
?>
End Check Last Of File Remove Extra Spaces

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 20 '22 at 11:22

A number of things to consider. If the white spaces consern you or result in errors you should write your sameple code like:

<?php

include('config.php');

?><!DOCTYPE HTML> 
<html><?php

include(ROOT.'head.php');

?><body>  
<div id="container"><?php

    // header items => logo , searchbar , compare , myaccount/login
    include(ROOT.'headeritems.php');
    //WEBSITE MENUS
    include(ROOT.'sitemenus.php');    
    if ($page!="index"){ include(ROOT.'otherpagenotification.php'); }

    ?><div id="breadO" <?php echo ($page!="index")? 'class="bannerShd2"' :''; ?> >
        <div id="bread"><?php include(BREADCRUMBS); ?></div>
        </div>
</div>

I'm exagerating a bit here and the result is not so readable but that would be it: line breaks inside a php block are not send to the browser everything else is.

Use shorthand for mere output

If the only thing a PHP block does consider the shorthand <?=...?> like:

<h1><?=$title?></h1> or
<h1><?= $title ?></h1>

It will make reading to code so much easier on the (programmer's) eyes.

Ommit trailing close tags

But more importantly: make it a habit to ommit a trailing ?> if no html code is appearing after that!. There is no need for a trailing ?> at the end of a php document (or class file or include file) as the PHP interpreter will very well be able to read and interpret a EOF token. Not doing so will send needless empty lines to the browser.

How PHP treats White Spaces

5 Answers5

Use shorthand for mere output

Ommit trailing close tags