str_starts_with

Here is a shim for older php versions. It works for php 5.4 and above. 

<?php 

if (!function_exists('str_starts_with')) {
    function str_starts_with($haystack, $needle) {
        
        $haystackArray = str_split($haystack);
        $needleArray = str_split($needle);
        
        $matches = [];
        
        foreach ($needleArray as $offset => $needleChar) {

            if(!array_key_exists($offset, $haystackArray)){
                break;
            }
            
            $haystackChar = $haystackArray[$offset];

            if ($needleChar === $haystackChar) {
                $matches[$offset] = $haystackChar;
                continue;
            }

            if ($needleChar !== $haystackChar) {
                break;
            }
        }
        
        if (empty($matches)) {
            return false;
        }
            
        return true;
    }
}

$string = 'The lazy fox jumped over the fence';

if (str_starts_with($string, 'The')) {
    echo "The string starts with 'The'\n";
}