Arrays in PHP
Arrays in PHP are powerful and flexible data structures used to store multiple values in a single variable. They can hold values of any type, including other arrays (multidimensional arrays).
? Types of Arrays in PHP
1. Indexed Arrays
Uses numeric indexes (starting from 0)
$fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"];echo $fruits[1]; // Output: banana2. Associative Arrays
Uses named keys that you assign to the elements
$person = [ "name" => "Alice", "age" => 30, "city" => "New York"];echo $person["name"]; // Output: Alice3. Multidimensional Arrays
Arrays inside arrays
$users = [ ["name" => "John", "email" => "john@example.com"], ["name" => "Jane", "email" => "jane@example.com"]];echo $users[1]["email"]; // Output: jane@example.com? Common Array Functions
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
count($arr) | Returns the number of elements |
array_push($arr, $val) | Adds element to end |
array_pop($arr) | Removes last element |
array_unshift($arr, $val) | Adds element to beginning |
array_shift($arr) | Removes first element |
array_merge($a1, $a2) | Merges two arrays |
array_keys($arr) | Returns all keys |
array_values($arr) | Returns all values |
in_array($val, $arr) | Checks if value exists |
isset($arr['key']) | Checks if key exists |
unset($arr['key']) | Removes key/value pair |
? Looping Through Arrays
Indexed Array
foreach ($fruits as $fruit) { echo $fruit . "<br>";}Associative Array
foreach ($person as $key => $value) { echo "$key: $value<br>";}? Sorting Arrays
sort($fruits); // Ascendingrsort($fruits); // Descendingasort($person); // Sort by value, keep key associationksort($person); // Sort by key? Creating Arrays Dynamically
$colors[] = "red";$colors[] = "green";$colors[] = "blue";Would you like examples for specific use cases like form data, database rows, or JSON parsing?
