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What Is An Array?: PHP Arrays

PHP arrays allow storing of multiple values in a single variable. There are three types of arrays: numeric, associative, and multidimensional. Numeric arrays use numeric indexes to store elements, associative arrays use named keys to associate values, and multidimensional arrays can nest arrays within other arrays. Arrays are created using the array() function and values can be accessed using their index/key.

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Harendra Kuntal
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31 views

What Is An Array?: PHP Arrays

PHP arrays allow storing of multiple values in a single variable. There are three types of arrays: numeric, associative, and multidimensional. Numeric arrays use numeric indexes to store elements, associative arrays use named keys to associate values, and multidimensional arrays can nest arrays within other arrays. Arrays are created using the array() function and values can be accessed using their index/key.

Uploaded by

Harendra Kuntal
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHP Arrays

An array stores multiple values in one single variable.

What is an Array?
A variable is a storage area holding a number or text. The problem is, a variable will hold only
one value.

An array is a special variable, which can store multiple values in one single variable.

In PHP, there are three kind of arrays:

 Numeric array - An array with a numeric index


 Associative array - An array where each ID key is associated with a value
 Multidimensional array - An array containing one or more arrays

Numeric Arrays
A numeric array stores each array element with a numeric index.

There are two methods to create a numeric array.

1. In the following example the index are automatically assigned (the index starts at 0):

$cars=array("Saab","Volvo","BMW","Toyota");

2. In the following example we assign the index manually:

$cars[0]="Saab";
$cars[1]="Volvo";
$cars[2]="BMW";
$cars[3]="Toyota";

Example

In the following example you access the variable values by referring to the array name and
index:

<?php
$cars[0]="Saab";
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$cars[1]="Volvo";
$cars[2]="BMW";
$cars[3]="Toyota";
echo $cars[0] . " and " . $cars[1] . " are Swedish cars.";
?>

The code above will output:

Saab and Volvo are Swedish cars.

Associative Arrays
An associative array, each ID key is associated with a value.

When storing data about specific named values, a numerical array is not always the best way to
do it.

With associative arrays we can use the values as keys and assign values to them.

Example 1

In this example we use an array to assign ages to the different persons:

$ages = array("Peter"=>32, "Quagmire"=>30, "Joe"=>34);

Example 2

This example is the same as example 1, but shows a different way of creating the array:

$ages['Peter'] = "32";
$ages['Quagmire'] = "30";
$ages['Joe'] = "34";

The ID keys can be used in a script:

<?php
$ages['Peter'] = "32";
$ages['Quagmire'] = "30";
$ages['Joe'] = "34";

echo "Peter is " . $ages['Peter'] . " years old.";


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?>

The code above will output:

Peter is 32 years old.

Multidimensional Arrays
In a multidimensional array, each element in the main array can also be an array. And each
element in the sub-array can be an array, and so on.

Example

In this example we create a multidimensional array, with automatically assigned ID keys:

$families = array
  (
  "Griffin"=>array  ("Peter","Lois","Megan"), 

"Quagmire"=>array("Glenn"),

"Brown"=>array("Cleveland","Loretta","Junior")
 );

The array above would look like this if written to the output:

Array
(
[Griffin] => Arra  (
  [0] => Peter
  [1] => Lois
  [2] => Megan
  )
[Quagmire] => Array(
  [0] => Glenn
  )
[Brown] => Array(
  [0] => Cleveland
  [1] => Loretta
  [2] => Junior
  )
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Example 2

Lets try displaying a single value from the array above:

echo "Is " . $families['Griffin'][2] .


" a part of the Griffin family?";

The code above will output:

Is Megan a part of the Griffin family?

array() creates an array, with keys and values. If you skip the keys when you specify an array, an
integer key is generated, starting at 0 and increases by 1 for each value.

Syntax
array(key => value)

Example 1
<?php
$a=array("a"=>"Dog","b"=>"Cat","c"=>"Horse");
print_r($a);
?>

The output of the code above will be:

Array ( [a] => Dog [b] => Cat [c] => Horse )

Example 2
<?php
$a=array("Dog","Cat","Horse");
print_r($a);
?>

The output of the code above will be:

Array ( [0] => Dog [1] => Cat [2] => Horse )

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