PHP Function: realpath()
One functions I wish I had known about when i start learned PHP is the realpath() function. Pretty much what it does is take symbolic link (such as ‘../’ or ‘/’) and returns a canonicalized absolute link (like ‘/home/public_html/folder’). Here is an example of it in action:
<?php
echo realpath('../');
// Would return: /home/mike/www/blogposts
?>