Data

Array

PHP

Previous
Next
 

Defining Array

PHP 5
$arr1 = [1, 2, 3];

$arr2 = array(1, 2, 3);

Array is a container for a sequence of items.

There are 2 main ways to create Arrays.

  • Literal syntax
  • array function

The elements inside the Array don't need to have the same type.

The bracket ([]) syntax is introduced in PHP 5.4.

Arrays in PHP can be associative. You can learn more about that in the Map topic.

 

Array Length

PHP 5
$arr = [1, 2, 3];

$length = count($arr);  // 3

Function count() returns the length of an Array.

 

Get Element at index

PHP 5
$animals = ["Cat", "Dog", "Cow"];

$cat = $animals[0];     // Cat

Array elements can be accessed by their index.

In PHP, the Array Index starts from 0.

 

Set Element at index

PHP 5
$animals = ["Cat", "Dog", "Cow"];

$animals[0] = "Lion";

Here we are setting an element at index 0 to a value Lion.

So now animals array values are Lion, Dog, Cow.

 

Append Element

PHP 5
$arr = [1, 2, 3];

$arr[] = 4;  // arr -> [1,2,3,4]

You can append an element to the end of the Array using [].

 

Find Element

PHP 5
$animals = ["Cat", "Dog", "Cow"];

$index = array_search("Dog", $animals);  // 1

Function array_search() search in an array and returns:

  • first found element index in index-based array.
  • first found element key in associative array.

If the element does not exist, it returns false.

 

Get SubArray

PHP 5
$animals = ["Cat", "Dog", "Cow"];

$sub1 = array_slice($animals,2);    // $sub -> ["Cow"]
$sub2 = array_slice($animals,2,1);  // $sub -> ["Cow"]

Function array_slice() gets start (inclusive) and the length of SubArray and returns the SubArray for those parameters.

If you don't specify the length of the SubArray, slice() will return the SubArray from starting point to the end of the Array.

 

Sort Array

PHP 5
$arr = [2, 4, 3, 1];

sort($arr);  // arr -> [1,2,3,4]

Function sort() order an Array elements in Ascending order and returns true on success and false on failure.

Other PHP functions for sorting arrays are:

  • sort - sort arrays in ascending order.
  • rsort - sort arrays in descending order.
  • asort - sort associative arrays in ascending order, according to the value
  • ksort - sort associative arrays in ascending order, according to the key
  • asort - sort associative arrays in descending order, according to the value
  • krsort - sort associative arrays in descending order, according to the key
 

Convert to String

PHP 5
$animals = ["Cat", "Dog", "Cow"];

$str1 = implode(',', $animals);  // "Cat,Dog,Cow"
$str2 = json_encode($animals); // ["Cat","Dog","Cow"]
$str3 = serialize($animals); // s:11:"Cat,Dog,Cow";
$str4 = print_r($animals, true);
/*
Array
(
    [0] => Cat
    [1] => Dog
    [2] => Cow
)
*/

Based on your needs you can use any of the functions below:

  • implode
  • json_encode
  • serialize
  • print_r
Previous
Next