Arrays in PHP

Vineet Kumar Saini
Feb 18, 2012
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Introduction

An array is a group of the same data type which is used to store multiple values in a single variable. In an array each data item is referenced by its name and a number that is called a subscript. The elements of an array are accessed by specifying a subscript after the array variable name. The first element of an array has a subscript of 0, the next is 1, and so on. The last element has a subscript of n-1, where n is the number of elements.

Types of Array

There are three types of arrays in PHP, which are as follows:

Numeric Index Array
Associative Array
Multidimensional Array

Numeric Index Array

A numeric index array stores each array element with a numeric index i.e. subscript. In a numeric indexed array, the keys are numeric and starts with subscript of 0, the next is 1, and so on. Numeric indexed arrays use integer/numbers as their index number to identify each item of the array.

Syntax of Numeric Index Array

There are two ways to define the numeric index array in PHP. Which are as follows:

1. $arrayname =array ("value1","value2","value3");

2. $arrayname[0]="value1";
$arrayname[1]="value2";
$arrayname[2]="value3";

Example1

<?php
$empname = array ("Vineet Saini","Manish Tewatia","Shudir Yadav");
echo "This is the First Example of Numeric Index Array".' '.' ';
echo $empname[0].' ';
echo $empname[1].' ';
echo $empname[2];
?>

Output

Example2

<?php
$empname[0]="Vineet Saini";
$empname[1]="Manish Tewatia";
$empname[2]="Dinesh Beniwal";
echo "This is the Second Example of Numeric Index Array ".' ' ;
echo ' ' .$empname[0]. ' ' .$empname[1]. ' ' .$empname[2] ;
?>

Output

Associative Array

An Associative array also is a type of array by which you can assign an arbitrary key to every value. In an associative array, each key is associated with a value. With associative arrays we can use the values as keys and assign values to them. In an associative array, the keys are not necessarily numeric, and even when they are numeric, not necessarily in any order.

Syntax of Associative Array

There are two ways for defining the associative array in PHP. Which are as follows:

1. $arrayname = array ("value"=>20, "value2"<=30, "value3"=>40);

2. $arrayname['value1'] = "20";
$arrayname['value2'] = "30";
$arrayname['value3'] = "40";

Example1

<?php
$studentpercent ['Vineet'] = "76";
$studentpercent ['Maneesh'] = "68";
$studentpercent ['Dinesh'] = "90";
echo "This is First Example of Associative Array" .' '.' ';
echo "Vineet have " . $studentpercent ['Vineet'] . " Percent marks in MCA.";
?>

Output

Example2

<?php
$studentpercent = array ("Vineet"=>76, "Maneesh"=>68, "Dinesh"=>90);
echo "This is Second Example of Associative Array" .' '.' ';
echo "Dinesh have " . $studentpercent ['Dinesh'] . " Percent marks in MBA.";
?>

Output

Multidimensional Array

A Multidimensional array is also known as a two-dimensional array. A Multidimensional array is an array of arrays i.e. each element in the main array can also be an array. And each element in the sub-array can be an array, and so on. A multidimensional array is an array of arrays, which means that the array can contain arrays within itself. If an array element value is another array then this is a multidimensional array.

Syntax of Multidimensional Array

$arrayname = array ($array1, $array2, $array3) ;

Example1

<?php
$myLists['Employee'] = array("1"=>"Vineet Saini",
 "2"=>"Maneesh Tewatia",
 "3"=>"Deepak Sharma",
 "4"=>"Rohtash Kumar",
 "5"=>"Dinesh Beniwal");
echo "This is the First Example of Multidimensional Array".' '.' ';
echo $myLists ['Employee'][5] . " is a owner of company .";
?>

Output

Example2

<?php
$department = array
(
"Development"=>array ( "Vineet", "Amit", "Shudir" ),
"Designing"=>array ( "Deepak" ),
"Testing"=>array ( "Maneesh", "Rohtash", "Dorilal" )
);
echo "This is the Second Example of Multidimensional Array".' ' .' ';
echo $department ['Development'][2] . " is a employee of the Development department.";
?>