Question

echo dirname('/test');

That outputs \ for me. I’d expect it to output /.

echo dirname('/test/a');

That outputs /test for me so why isn’t /test giving me / as well?

Answer 1

Check this from http://php.net/manual/en/function.dirname.php

<?php
echo "1) " . dirname("/etc/passwd") . PHP_EOL; // 1) /etc
echo "2) " . dirname("/etc/") . PHP_EOL; // 2) / (or \ on Windows)
echo "3) " . dirname("."); // 3) .
?>

Since windows uses both / and \ as directory separator, this happens.