In PHP, the explode() function is used to split a string into an array based on a specified delimiter. It’s commonly used when you have a string with separators (like commas, spaces, or pipes) and you want to work with the individual pieces.

Syntax

explode(string $separator, string $string, int $limit = PHP_INT_MAX): array

• $separator: The boundary string where the split will happen.
• $string: The input string to split.
• $limit (optional): Limits the number of elements in the result.

Basic Example

$text = "apple,banana,orange";
$fruits = explode(",", $text);

print_r($fruits);

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => apple
    [1] => banana
    [2] => orange
)

Example with Space Separator

$sentence = "PHP is a great language";
$words = explode(" ", $sentence);

print_r($words);

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => PHP
    [1] => is
    [2] => a
    [3] => great
    [4] => language
)

Example with Limit

$data = "one|two|three|four";
$parts = explode("|", $data, 3);

print_r($parts);

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => one
    [1] => two
    [2] => three|four
)

📝 Note: When a limit is specified:

• If positive, it returns at most that many elements, and the last one will contain the rest of the string.
• If negative, it omits that many values from the end of the array.

Negative Limit Example

$data = "red,green,blue,yellow";
$colors = explode(",", $data, -1);

print_r($colors);

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => red
    [1] => green
    [2] => blue
)

Use Case: Convert CSV to Array

$csv = "name,email,phone";
$headers = explode(",", $csv);

print_r($headers);

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => name
    [1] => email
    [2] => phone
)