PHP Arrays
An array stores multiple values in one single variable:
Example
<?php
$cars = array("Volvo", "BMW", "Toyota");
echo "I like " . $cars[0] . ", " . $cars[1] . " and " . $cars[2] . ".";
?>
Try it Yourself »
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
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:
Complete PHP Array Reference
For a complete reference of all array functions, go to our complete PHP Array Reference.
The reference contains a brief description, and examples of use, for each function!
