In PHP, define
and const
are both used to define constants, which are values that cannot be changed once they are set. There are some differences between the two:
define
is a function, whileconst
is a language construct. This means thatdefine
can be called like a function (e.g.,define('FOO', 'bar')
), whileconst
is used like a keyword (e.g.,const FOO = 'bar'
).define
can define constants at runtime, whileconst
can only define constants at compile time. This means thatdefine
can be used to define constants based on runtime conditions, whileconst
can only be used to define constants with fixed values.define
constants are case-insensitive by default, whileconst
constants are case-sensitive. This means thatdefine('FOO', 'bar')
anddefine('foo', 'bar')
define the same constant, whileconst FOO = 'bar'
andconst foo = 'bar'
define two different constants.
Here’s an example of how you can use define
and const
to define constants:
define('FOO', 'bar');
echo FOO; // Outputs: bar
echo foo; // Outputs: bar
const BAR = 'baz';
echo BAR; // Outputs: baz
echo bar; // Outputs: bar
In general, const
is the recommended way to define constants in PHP, as it is faster and more flexible than define
. However, define
may be useful in certain situations where you need to define constants at runtime based on dynamic values.