How to check if a string starts with a specified string?

There is also the strncmp() function and strncasecmp() function which is perfect for this situation:

if (strncmp($string_n, "http", 4) === 0)

In general:

if (strncmp($string_n, $prefix, strlen($prefix)) === 0)

The advantage over the substr() approach is that strncmp() just does what needs to be done, without creating a temporary string.

Use strpos():

if (strpos($string2, 'http') === 0) {
   // It starts with 'http'
}

Remember the three equals signs (===). It will not work properly if you only use two. This is because strpos() will return false if the needle cannot be found in the haystack.

PHP 8 or newer:

Use the str_starts_with function:

str_starts_with('http://www.google.com', 'http')

PHP 7 or older:

Use the substr function to return a part of a string.

substr( $string_n, 0, 4 ) === "http"

If you're trying to make sure it's not another protocol. I'd use http:// instead, since https would also match, and other things such as http-protocol.com.

substr( $string_n, 0, 7 ) === "http://"

And in general:

substr($string, 0, strlen($query)) === $query