PHP Exercises: Create a new string from a given string without the first and last character if the first or last characters are 'a' otherwise return the original given string

Last update on April 16 2025 12:55:30 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

84. Remove 'a' from First and Last if Present

Write a PHP program to create a new string from a given string without the first and last character if the first or last characters are 'a' otherwise return the original given string.

Sample Solution:

PHP Code :

<?php
// Define a function named 'test' that removes the character 'a' from the beginning and end of a string
function test($s1)
{ 
    // Check if the length of $s1 is greater than 0 and if the last character is 'a'
    if (strlen($s1) > 0 && substr($s1, strlen($s1)-1, 1) == "a")
    {
        // Remove the last character from $s1
        $s1 = substr($s1, 0, strlen($s1) - 1);
    }

    // Check if the length of $s1 is greater than 0 and if the first character is 'a'
    if (strlen($s1) > 0 && substr($s1, 0, 1) == "a")
    {
        // Remove the first character from $s1
        $s1 = substr($s1, 1);
    }

    // Return the modified or original string
    return $s1;
}

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

Explanation:

Function Definition:

The function test is defined with one parameter:

$s1: the input string to be processed.

Remove Last Character ('a'):

The function checks:

Condition: If the length of $s1 is greater than 0 and if the last character is 'a':

This is done using substr($s1, strlen($s1)-1, 1).

Action: If the condition is true, the last character is removed from $s1 using:

substr($s1, 0, strlen($s1) - 1).

Remove First Character ('a'):

The function checks:

Condition: If the length of $s1 is greater than 0 and if the first character is 'a':

This is done using substr($s1, 0, 1).

Action: If the condition is true, the first character is removed from $s1 using:

substr($s1, 1).

Return Value:

The function returns the modified string (with 'a' removed from the beginning or end) or the original string if no modifications were made.

Output:

bcab
Python
bcd
jython

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a PHP script to create a new string by removing the first and/or last character if they are the letter 'a'; otherwise, return the original string.
Write a PHP function to check the beginning and ending of a string for 'a' and strip them if present.
Write a PHP program to conditionally remove 'a' from the boundaries of a string and output the modified version.
Write a PHP script to use substring functions to eliminate an 'a' at the start or end of a string and leave it untouched otherwise.

PHP Code Editor:

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