This site is mobile accessible. Press the "Tap Here" button to use a different font-size.

Smartphone icons created by Freepik - Flaticon

4.1 PHP Arrays

An array stores multiple values in one single variable:

Example 1: PHP Arrays

<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
echo "I like " . $cars[0] . ", " . $cars[1] . " and " . $cars[2] . ".";
?>

What is an Array?

An array is a special variable, which can hold more than one value at a time.
If you have a list of items (a list of car names, for example), storing the cars in single variables could look like this:

$cars1 = "Volvo";
$cars2 = "BMW";
$cars3 = "Toyota";

However, what if you want to loop through the cars and find a specific one? And what if you had not 3 cars, but 300?
The solution is to create an array!
An array can hold many values under a single name, and you can access the values by referring to an index number.

Create an Array in PHP

In PHP, the array() function is used to create an array:

array();

In PHP, there are three types of arrays:

Indexed arrays - Arrays with a numeric index
Associative arrays - Arrays with named keys
Multidimensional arrays - Arrays containing one or more arrays

Array Items

Array items can be of any data type.
The most common are strings and numbers (int, float), but array items can also be objects, functions or even arrays.
You can have different data types in the same array.

Example 2: Array Items

Array items of four different data types:

$myArr = array("Volvo", 15, ["apples", "bananas"], myFunction);

Get The Length of an Array - The count() Function

The count() function is used to return the length (the number of elements) of an array:

Example 3: PHP Arrays - Get The Length of an Array with The count() Function

<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
echo count($cars);
?>

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!

PHP Fundamentals course home
Module 4. Arrays, Superglobals and Regex

Navigate this module

Eventually the navigation links, above, will be replaced by these << (previous) and >> (next) buttons below.

Animated PHP icons used in the buttons provided by ICONS8.COM. Smartphone icons created by Freepik - Flaticon

Module 4 quiz

Example files created in this module:
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