include

The include() statement includes and evaluates a specified file. The difference between include() and require() is that require() results in a Fatal Error upon failure, whereas include() does not, it only produces a Warning.

include() is not a function in PHP, it is a language construct.

PHP

include('../config.php');

Ruby

include('../config.rb');

require

The require() statement includes and evaluates a specified file. The difference between require() and include() is that require() results in a Fatal Error upon failure, whereas include() does not, it only produces a Warning.

require() is not a function in PHP, it is a language construct.

PHP

require ('../config.php');

Ruby

require ('../config.rb');

printf

Output a formatted string.

PHP

$format = 'There are %d monkeys in the %s';
printf($format, 5, 'tree');
// => There are 5 monkeys in the tree

Ruby

my_string = 'There are %d monkeys in the %s';
printf(my_string, 5, 'tree');
# => There are 5 monkeys in the tree

print

Output a string.

Strictly speaking, print() is not a function in PHP, it is a language construct (similar to echo() ).

PHP

print 'Hello World!';
// => Hello World!

Ruby

print 'Hello World!'
# => Hello World!

echo

Output one or more strings.

Strictly speaking, echo() is not a function in PHP, it is a language construct.

PHP

echo 'Hello World!';
// => Hello World!

Ruby

print 'Hello World!'
# => Hello World!

sort

Sorts an array with elements arranged from lowest to highest.

PHP

$a = array('a', 'b', 'e', 'g', 'c', 'd');
sort($a);
print_r($a);
/*
Array (
	[0] => a
	[1] => b
	[2] => c
	[3] => d
	[4] => e
	[5] => g
)
*/

Ruby

a = [ "d", "a", "e", "c", "b" ];
puts a.sort;
# => ["a", "b", "c", "d", "e"]

count

Returns the number of elements in an array.

PHP

$a = array('first' => 1, 'second' => 2);
echo count($a);
// => 2

Ruby

my_array = [1, 2];
puts my_array.length;
# => 2

array_key_exists

Returns TRUE if the given argument is set in the array. The argument passed in can be any value possible for an array index.

PHP

$a = array('first' => 1, 'second' => 2);
var_dump( array_key_exists('first', $a) );
// => true

Ruby

animals = {:sheep => 1, :cow => 2};
puts animals.include?(:cow);
# => true

array_sum

Returns the sum of values in an array.

PHP

$a = array(2, 4, 6, 8);
echo array_sum($a);
// => 20

Ruby

a_var = [2, 4, 6, 8];
puts a_var.inject {|sum,x| sum ? sum + x : x };
# => 20

In the code above, the return value from the ruby code will be nil if the array used is empty. This is not exactly the same behaviour as PHP, since the array_sum() function will always return a number. We can force ruby to always return a float (or an int) too, even if the array is empty, by adding a bit of type casting to the final result:

Ruby

a_var = [];
puts a_var.inject {|sum,x| sum ? sum + x : x }.to_f;
# => 0.0

pi

Returns the value of PI to 14 (default) decimal places. This precision can be altered in the php.ini file.

PHP

echo pi();
// => 3.1415926535898

Ruby

puts Math::PI;
# => 3.14159265358979

In the code above, PI is actually a constant of the Module Math. PHP also has a constant which stores the approximate value of PI - M_PI.

PHP

echo M_PI();
// => 3.1415926535898