PHP Exercises: Create a new string using 3 copies of the first 2 characters of a given string

Last update on May 28 2025 13:04:57 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

82. Three Copies of First Two Characters

Write a PHP program to create a new string using 3 copies of the first 2 characters of a given string. If the length of the given string is less than 2 use the whole string.

Sample Solution:

PHP Code :

<?php
// Define a function named 'test' that repeats the first two characters of a string
function test($s1)
{ 
    // Initialize a variable to store the repeated characters
    $extra_Front = "";
    
    // Check if the length of $s1 is less than 2
    if (strlen($s1) < 2)
    {
        // If so, concatenate $s1 with itself and return the result
        return $s1 . $s1 . $s1;
    }
    // If the length of $s1 is 2 or more
    else
    {
        // Extract the first two characters of $s1
        $extra_Front = substr($s1, 0, 2);
        // Concatenate the extracted characters with themselves and return the result
        return $extra_Front . $extra_Front . $extra_Front;
    }
}

// Test the 'test' function with different strings, then display the results
echo test("abc") . "\n";
echo test("Python") . "\n";
echo test("J") . "\n";
?>

Explanation:

Function Definition:

The function test is defined with one parameter:

$s1: the input string.

Variable Initialization:

A variable $extra_Front is initialized as an empty string to store the first two characters if needed.

Length Check:

The function checks the length of $s1 to determine how to process it.

Condition Handling:

Case 1: If the length of $s1 is less than 2:

The function returns the string concatenated with itself three times:
return $s1 . $s1 . $s1;
This means that if the input is a single character or empty, it will repeat that character or string three times.

Case 2: If the length of $s1 is 2 or more:

The function extracts the first two characters of $s1 using:
$extra_Front = substr($s1, 0, 2);
The function then returns these two characters concatenated with themselves three times:
return $extra_Front . $extra_Front . $extra_Front;

Output:

ababab
PyPyPy
JJJ

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a PHP script to generate a new string by repeating the first two characters of an input three times, using the whole string if its length is less than 2.
Write a PHP function to check the length of a string and then output three copies of its first two characters or the entire string if shorter.
Write a PHP program to create a repeated pattern from the first two letters of a string and handle edge cases for short inputs.
Write a PHP script to conditionally replicate the initial segment of a string three times and display the result.

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