What are the best practices for using str_replace in PHP to avoid self-replacement?

When using str_replace in PHP, it's important to be cautious to avoid self-replacement. This can occur when the search and replace strings are the same, leading to unintended modifications of the original string. To prevent this, you can check if the search and replace strings are identical before calling str_replace. 

$original_string = "Hello, World!";
$search_string = "World";
$replace_string = "Universe";

if ($search_string !== $replace_string) {
    $modified_string = str_replace($search_string, $replace_string, $original_string);
    echo $modified_string;
} else {
    echo "Search and replace strings cannot be identical.";
}

Keywords

str_replace PHP self-replacement string manipulation bug

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