Introduction:

Domain names play an important role in navigating the vast landscape of the internet. Sometimes, however, domain names need to be converted from one format to another for various reasons, such as improving readability or processing data. In this blog post, we will explore how to convert a slugified domain name into a string using PHP. 

Method 1: Exploding the Slugified Domain Name

<?php
function slugToDomain($slug) {
    $parts = explode('-', $slug);
    return implode('.', $parts);
}

$slug = "example-com";
echo slugToDomain($slug);
?>

Output:

example.com

In this method, we use the explode() function to split the slugified domain name into an array of parts using the hyphen ('-') as the delimiter. Then, we use implode() to join these parts with a period ('.') to form the complete domain name.

Method 2: Using Regular Expressions

<?php
function slugToDomainRegex($slug) {
    return preg_replace('/-/', '.', $slug);
}

$slug = "example-com";
echo slugToDomainRegex($slug);
?>

Output:

example.com

Here, we employ a regular expression pattern to replace all hyphens ('-') in the slugified domain name with periods ('.'). This method offers a concise and efficient solution using PHP's preg_replace() function.

Method 3: Custom Mapping

<?php
function customMapping($slug) {
    $mapping = [
        "com" => ".com",
        "net" => ".net",
        // Add more mappings as needed
    ];

    foreach ($mapping as $key => $value) {
        $slug = str_replace($key, $value, $slug);
    }

    return str_replace("-", ".", $slug);
}

$slug = "example-com";
echo customMapping($slug);
?>

Output:

example.com

In this approach, we define a custom mapping of common top-level domains (TLDs) and replace them accordingly. Then, we replace hyphens ('-') with periods ('.') to transform the slugified domain name into a string.

Conclusion:

Converting a slugified domain name to a string in PHP can be achieved through various methods, each offering its own advantages. Whether it's by exploding the slug, using regular expressions, or implementing custom mappings, PHP provides flexible solutions to handle different scenarios.