CI/php trick for easier to remember function names

Most of the people who use php, including me, are not so keen on the inconsistent naming of the functions but with a php trick and the help op CI you can create easier to remember function names without performance loss.

Maybe some people will find this awkward at first but in php it's possible to assign a function to a variable by adding the function name as a value to the variable.

$STR_REMOVE_BEFORE = 'strstr';


In CI 1.6.1 they added the constants.php file which gets loaded early on so you could misuse this file to add your function variables but at the same time you could use all upper-case letters to distinguish the function variables from all the other variables. See the example above which gives you the opportunity to do;

echo $STR_REMOVE_BEFORE('name@example.com','@');


There is one problem with using a variable as a function and that is that you can't use it with parameters that are passed on by reference.

$ARR_LAST_VALUE = 'end';

Using this variable as a function will result in an error.