Using str_replace so that it only acts on the first match?

Question

I want a version of str_replace() that only replaces the first occurrence of $search in the $subject. Is there an easy solution to thi

Answer 1

I wondered which one was the fastest, so I tested them all.

Below you will find:

• A comprehensive list of all the functions that have been contributed onto this page
• Benchmark testing for each contrubution (average execution time over 10,000 runs)
• Links to each answer (for the full code)

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All functions were tested with the same settings:

$string = 'OOO.OOO.OOO.S';
$search = 'OOO'; 
$replace = 'B';

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Functions that only replace the first occurrence of a string within a string:

• substr_replace($string, $replace, 0, strlen($search));

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => zombat
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => B.OOO.OOO.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000062883
  [SLOWER BY] => FASTEST
  

• replace_first($search, $replace, $string);

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => too much php
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => B.OOO.OOO.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000073902
  [SLOWER BY] => 17.52%
  

• preg_replace($search, $replace, $string, 1);

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => karim79
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => B.OOO.OOO.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000077519
  [SLOWER BY] => 23.27%
  

• str_replace_once($search, $replace, $string);

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => happyhardik
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => B.OOO.OOO.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000082286
  [SLOWER BY] => 30.86%
  

• str_replace_limit($search, $replace, $string, $count, 1);

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => bfrohs - expanded renocor
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => B.OOO.OOO.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000083342
  [SLOWER BY] => 32.54%
  

• str_replace_limit($search, $replace, $string, 1);

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => renocor
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => B.OOO.OOO.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000093116
  [SLOWER BY] => 48.08%
  

• str_replace_limit($string, $search, $replace, 1, 0);

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => jayoaK
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => B.OOO.OOO.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000093862
  [SLOWER BY] => 49.26%
  

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Functions that only replace the last occurrence of a string within a string:

• substr_replace($string, $replace, strrpos($string, $search), strlen($search));

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => oLinkSoftware - modified zombat
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => OOO.OOO.B.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000068083
  [SLOWER BY] => FASTEST
  

• strrev(implode(strrev($replace), explode(strrev($search), strrev($string), 2)));

  [CONTRIBUTED BY] => oLinkSoftware
  [OOO.OOO.OOO.S] => OOO.OOO.B.S
  [AVERAGE TIME] => 0.0000084460
  [SLOWER BY] => 24.05%