Updated March 18, 2023
Introduction to PHP Array Functions
PHP Array Functions (an acronym for Hypertext Pre-processor) is a general-purpose scripting language that is used widely; it’s compatibility to suit into HTML and web development makes its crucial technology to understand. An array in PHP means a type of variable that can hold or store multiple values in a single
It can be easily embedded into the HTML, let us witness with the brief –
Code:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>……………</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
echo "Hello, I am a PHP !";
?>
</body>
</html>Output:
The above scripting file is very clear evidence of how well the PHP scripts hold the compatibility with the HTML. The PHP code contains a special start and ends brackets.
How to Create an array in PHP?
array()
Below we have listed how the array works –
$color = array("red", "green", "blue");OUTPUT
$color[0] = “red”
$color[1] = “green”
$color[2] = “blue”
Here the intention is to store the color name in one single color variable. So we have a color variable in array function, and in this function, we have named all the colors one by one in string format.
PHP Array Functions
There are 3 different types of array :
- Numeric Array
- Associative Array
- Multidimensional Array
These three are explained below:
1. Numeric Array
The numeric array is those array that has numeric indexing. Let us see the syntax of the Numeric array – there are two types of syntax.
First Way:
$array_name[0] = value;Second Way:
$array_name[] = value;Value means, what a user wants to store in the array.
The first and second syntax has some differences, one has zero in [] while other has blank [].
By default, all the array starts with index 0, which means for the first array if we enter 0 in [] or leaves it blank [] both mean the same. See one more example to better understand the differences
$array_name[] = value; {either you put 0 or leave it blank – both means same}
$array_name [1] = value;Array with a different value and with different index is listed below –
$name[0] = "Alex";
$name[1] = "Peter";
$name[2] = "Lucy"2. Associative Array
An associative array is one which has strings as the index. The stored value is performed in association with key values rather than linear indexing.
Let us see the syntax of the Associative array.
$array_name["key"] = value;The Associative array is used when you have to create a relation between your value and key (or index).
3. Multidimensional Array
A multidimensional array is one which contain one or more arrays and values within them. These arrays are accessed with multiples indexes.
In single definitions, we can call multidimensional as an array of array. A multi-dimensional array can be 1D (I dimensional), 2D (2 dimensional) …….n-dimensional.
| Alex | England | 23 |
| Peter | Germany | 26 |
| Lucy | Holland | 27 |
So if we store in 2D the allocation will be of something thing is listed below –
| Alex [0][0] | England[0][1] | 23[0][2] |
| Peter[1][0] | Germany[1][1] | 26[1][2] |
| Lucy[2][0] | Holland[2][1] | 27[2][2] |
The same goes for ‘n’ number of dimensions and allocations.
Examples on Types of the Array Function
Let us see the types of the array with the help of an example:
1. Numeric Array
Code:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$numbers[] = "eleven";
$numbers[] = "twelve";
$numbers[] = "thirteen";
$numbers[] = "fourteen";
$numbers[] = "fifteen";
foreach( $numbers as $value ) {
echo "Value is $value <br />";
}
?>
</body>
</html>Output:
2. Associative Array
Code:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$salaries['Alex'] = "high";
$salaries['Peter'] = "medium";
$salaries['Lucy'] = "low";
echo "Salary of Alex is ". $salaries['Alex'] . "<br />";
echo "Salary of Peter is ". $salaries['Peter']. "<br />";
echo "Salary of Lucy is ". $salaries['Lucy']. "<br />";
?>
</body>
</html>Output:
3. Multidimensional array
Code:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<title>PHP Multidimensional Array</title>
</head>
<body>
<?php
// Define nested array
$contacts = array(
array(
"name" => "Petergomes",
"email" => "[email protected]",
),
array(
"name" => "Clark anthony",
"email" => "[email protected]",
),
array(
"name" => "lucy disilva",
"email" => "[email protected]",
)
);
// Access nested value
echo "Peter gomes's Email-id is: " . $contacts[0]["email"];
?>
</body>
</html>Output:
Advantages
Following are some of the advantages described.
- When your intention is to represent multiple data that belong to the same type with using only single indexing naming.
- It has wide applicability as it can be used to implement other data structures like stacks, trees, queues, graphs, and linked lists.
- 2D/3D arrays are used to represent matrices effectively
- It has less coding with the elimination of complexity
- Sorting can be done easily
Conclusion
PHP arrays hold crucial importance in PHP programming, it acts as the ultimate variable of PHP. It behaves as a storage container for collecting elements. Arrays also can store other variables within like strings, integers, and even other arrays. If you have to deal with an unknown amount of variables you must prefer to work using arrays. Loops can be used to output values in arrays, also by simply calling specific elements with the index or key values.
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This is a guide to PHP Array Functions. Here we discuss the introduction, detail explanation of PHP Array Functions, advantages along with the array codes and outputs. You can also go through our other suggested articles to learn more –
