Filter_var or RegEx?

Orc · 01-08-2008, 11:36 AM

I have been thinking most of the time about Filtering out the Variables or just a Regular Expression for matching different variables like for generally a Membership System with Email.
I want a comparison of Filter_var and RegEx when it comes to matching these vars.

Example of a Filter_Var:

PHP Code:


			
<?php

$filter1=(filter_var('bob@example.com', FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL));

$filter2=(filter_var('example.com', FILTER_VALIDATE_URL, FILTER_FLAG_SCHEME_REQUIRED));



  if(!$filter) {

     echo 'This email is not valid!';

} else {

  echo 'Well pfft.. It is valid -_-';

}

?>

And thus the hard-coded ways:

PHP Code:


			
            $name = "/^[-!#$%&'*+./0-9=?A-Z^_`{|}~]+";

// http://www.(example).com

            $host = "([-0-9A-Z]+.)+";

// This is extension or a TLD( Top Level Domain ) and it involves the Extension of the Host

            $ext = "([0-9A-Z]){2,4}$/i";

Which is more Powerful, and Effective? Obviously Filter_var is simpler in terms of matching vars.