levenshtein

Definition and usage

levenshtein() function returns the Levenshtein distance between two strings.

Levenshtein distance, also known as edit distance, refers to the minimum number of editing operations required between two strings to convert from one string to another. The licensed editing operation includes replacing one character with another character, inserting one character, and deleting one character.

By default, PHP gives the same weight for each operation (replace, insert, and delete). However, you can define the cost of each operation by setting optional insert, replace, delete parameters.

Note: levenshtein() function is case-insensitive.

Note: levenshtein() function is faster than similar_text() function. However, the similar_text() function gives you more accurate results with fewer required modifications.

Example

Calculate the Levenshtein distance between two strings:

 <?php
echo levenshtein ( "Hello World" , "ello World" ) ;
echo "<br>" ;
echo levenshtein ( "Hello World" , "ello World" , 10 , 20 , 30 ) ;
?>

Try it yourself

grammar

 levenshtein ( string1 , string2 , insert , replace , delete )