What are some alternative approaches to using preg_match in PHP for string manipulation and validation?

When working with string manipulation and validation in PHP, an alternative approach to using preg_match is to use built-in string functions such as strpos, substr, or str_replace. These functions can be used to perform tasks like checking for the presence of a substring, extracting a portion of a string, or replacing specific characters.

// Using strpos to check if a substring exists in a string
$string = "Hello, World!";
if (strpos($string, "Hello") !== false) {
    echo "Substring found in the string.";
}

// Using substr to extract a portion of a string
$string = "Hello, World!";
$substring = substr($string, 0, 5); // Extracts "Hello"
echo $substring;

// Using str_replace to replace characters in a string
$string = "Hello, World!";
$newString = str_replace("Hello", "Hi", $string); // Replaces "Hello" with "Hi"
echo $newString;