Learn PHP Arrays

Learn about PHP ordered and associative arrays and how this data type is used to store, access and manipulate data.

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Key Concepts

Review core concepts you need to learn to master this subject

PHP Apending Arrays

PHP Ordered Arrays

PHP array funtion

PHP Nested Arrays

PHP print_r function

PHP array_push function

PHP Count Function

PHP Square Bracket Arrays

PHP Apending Arrays

$string_array = ["first element", "second element"];
$string_array[] = "third element";
// $string_array is now:  ["first element", "second element", "third element"]

In PHP, elements can be added to the end of an array by attaching square brackets ([]) at the end of the array’s name, followed by typing the assignment operator (=), and then finally by typing the element to be added to the array.

Ordered Arrays

Lesson 1 of 2

1
Introduction
So far in our PHP programming, we’ve been thinking about individual pieces of data. We’ve seen how useful variables can be for holding a single value, for example. But as our programs grow more com…
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2
Creating Arrays with array()
We can construct ordered arrays with a built-in PHP function: array(). The array() function returns an array. Each of the arguments with which …
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3
Creating Arrays with Short Syntax
In addition to using array(), we can also create an array by wrapping comma-separated elements in square brackets ([ ]). This feature is sometimes referred to as short array syntax, and more clos…
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4
Printing Arrays
Since arrays are a more complicated data type than strings or integers, printing them is slightly more challenging. Using echo won’t have the desired result: $number_array = [0, 1, 2]; echo $numb…
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5
Accessing an Element
The individual elements in an array can be accessed using the array variable’s name, and the location index surrounded by square brackets ([]), for example: $my_array = [“tic”, “tac”, “toe”]; ech…
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6
Adding and Changing Elements
We can make adjustments to existing arrays—we don’t have to create a new array when we want our array to change. We add elements to the end of an array by taking the variable name and appendin…
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7
More Array Methods: Pushing and Popping
In the previous exercise, we learned how to add single array elements and to change array elements at a given index. PHP also provides us with built-in methods for removing array elements, and for …
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8
Shifting and Unshifting
We saw that array_pop() and array_push() deal exclusively with the end of the array (the index at the length of the array minus 1). PHP also provides functions for adding and removing elements from…
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9
Nested Arrays
We mentioned that arrays can hold elements of any type—this even includes other arrays! We can use chained operations to access and change elements within a nested array: $nested_arr = [[2, 4], [3…
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10
Review
We covered a lot in this lesson! Great job. Take a second to review everything you learned: + Arrays are ordered collections of data that are a type of data structure fundamental to computer sci…
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