//php check if first four characters of a string = http
substr( $http, 0, 4 ) === "http";
//php check if first five characters of a string = https
substr( $https, 0, 5 ) === "https";
function startsWith($haystack, $needle)
{
$length = strlen($needle);
return (substr($haystack, 0, $length) === $needle);
}
function endsWith($haystack, $needle)
{
$length = strlen($needle);
if ($length == 0) {
return true;
}
return (substr($haystack, -$length) === $needle);
}