Convert Dashes to CamelCase in PHP

In PHP, converting dashes to camelCase is a common requirement when working with naming conventions. This can be achieved using built-in string functions like ucwords() and str_replace().

Sample input − this-is-a-test-string

Sample output − thisIsATestString

Method 1: Using ucwords() with Space Replacement

This method works by replacing dashes with spaces, capitalizing words, then removing spaces ?

<?php
function dashToCamelCase($string, $capitalizeFirstCharacter = false) {
    $str = str_replace(' ', '', ucwords(str_replace('-', ' ', $string)));
    if (!$capitalizeFirstCharacter) {
        $str[0] = strtolower($str[0]);
    }
    return $str;
}

echo dashToCamelCase('this-is-a-test-string');
echo "<br>";
echo dashToCamelCase('user-profile-data', true);
?>

thisIsATestString
UserProfileData

Method 2: Using ucwords() with Delimiter (PHP 5.3+)

For PHP version 5.3 and above, ucwords() accepts a delimiter parameter, making the process more efficient ?

<?php
function dashToCamelCase($string, $capitalizeFirstCharacter = false) {
    $str = str_replace('-', '', ucwords($string, '-'));
    if (!$capitalizeFirstCharacter) {
        $str = lcfirst($str);
    }
    return $str;
}

echo dashToCamelCase('this-is-a-test-string');
echo "<br>";
echo dashToCamelCase('api-response-handler', true);
?>

thisIsATestString
ApiResponseHandler

Key Points

• Use lcfirst() instead of strtolower() to convert only the first character to lowercase
• The second parameter controls whether the first character should be capitalized (PascalCase vs camelCase)
• Method 2 is more efficient as it directly processes dashes as delimiters

Conclusion

Both methods effectively convert dash-separated strings to camelCase. Use Method 2 for PHP 5.3+ as it's more direct and efficient than the space replacement approach.