Printf and sprintf where exactly used in php? give one example?

Question

Possible Duplicates:
PHP sprintf() and printf() functions
Why use sprintf function in PHP?

Printf and sprintf where exactly used in php? give one example?

Answer 1

printf function in php is used to output a formatted string

For example:

<?php
$format = 'I have %d questions to %s';
printf($format, 2, 'answer');
?>

This will output as follows: I have 2 questions to answer

---

sprintf function in php is used to return a formatted string.

For Example:

<?php
$format = 'I have %d questions to %s';
$a_string = sprintf($format, 2, 'answer');
echo $a_string; 
?>

This will output as follows: I have 2 questions to answer

---

In the second example sprintf function returns a formatted string and gets stored into the variable $a_string.

Answer 2

Using sprintf have many options to format your output string. This SO answer will help you more:

Why use sprintf function in PHP?