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4.1.2 Associative Arrays

Associative arrays are arrays that use named keys that you assign to them.
There are two ways to create an associative array:

$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");

or

$age['Peter'] = "35";
$age['Ben'] = "37";
$age['Joe'] = "43";

The named keys can then be used in a script:

Example 1: PHP Arrays - Associative Arrays part 1

<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");
echo "Peter is " . $age['Peter'] . " years old.";
?>

Associative arrays are arrays that use named keys that you assign to them.

Example 2: PHP Arrays - Associative Arrays part 2

$car = array("brand"=>"Ford", "model"=>"Mustang", "year"=>1964);
var_dump($car);

Access Associative Arrays

To access an array item you can refer to the key name.

Example 3: PHP Arrays - Access Associative Arrays

Display the model of the car:

$car = array("brand"=>"Ford", "model"=>"Mustang", "year"=>1964);
echo $car["model"];

Change Value

To change the value of an array item, use the key name:

Example 4: PHP Associative Arrays: Change Key Value

Change the year item:

$car = array("brand"=>"Ford", "model"=>"Mustang", "year"=>1964);
$car["year"] = 2024;
var_dump($car);

Loop Through an Associative Array

To loop through and print all the values of an associative array, you could use a foreach loop, like this:

Example 5: Associative Arrays - Loop Through an Associative Array part 1

Display all array items, keys and values:

$car = array("brand"=>"Ford", "model"=>"Mustang", "year"=>1964);

foreach ($car as $x => $y) {
  echo "$x: $y <br>";
}

Another example

Example 6: Associative Arrays - Loop Through an Associative Array part 2

<?php
$age = array("Peter"=>"35", "Ben"=>"37", "Joe"=>"43");

foreach($age as $x => $x_value) {
  echo "Key=" . $x . ", Value=" . $x_value;
  echo "<br>";
}
?>

Complete PHP Array Reference

For a complete reference of all array functions, go to the W3Schools.com complete PHP Array Reference.
The reference contains a brief description, and examples of use, for each function!

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PHP Arrays Array Items PHP Arrays - Get The Length of an Array with The count() Function PHP Arrays - Change Value Indexed Arrays - Loop Through an Indexed Array PHP Arrays: Index Number part 1 PHP Arrays: Index Number part 2 PHP Arrays - Associative Arrays part 1 PHP Arrays - Associative Arrays part 2 PHP Arrays - Access Associative Arrays PHP Associative Arrays: Change Key's Value Associative Arrays - Loop Through an Associative Array part 1 Associative Arrays - Loop Through an Associative Array part 2 PHP Arrays - Two-dimensional Arrays PHP Arrays - Two-dimensional Arrays with for loop PHP Arrays - Sorting Arrays part 1 PHP Arrays - Sorting Arrays part 2 PHP Arrays - Sort Array in Descending Order rsort() part 1 PHP Arrays - Sort Array in Descending Order rsort() part 2 PHP Arrays - Sort Array (Ascending Order), According to Value asort() PHP Arrays - Sort Array (Ascending Order), According to Key ksort() PHP Arrays - Sort Array (Descending Order), According to Value arsort() PHP Arrays - Sort Array (Descending Order), According to Key krsort() PHP $GLOBALS PHP $_SERVER PHP $_REQUEST - Form Submission PHP $_POST - Form Submission Test Get PHP RegEx - Using preg_match() PHP RegEx - Using preg_match_all() PHP RegEx - Using preg_replace() PHP RegEx - Grouping