PHP Arrays

Variables can only store a single value, so adding many more would be time consuming. That’s where arrays come in, since arrays can store multiple values. For example, if you wanted to list your favourite movies you could make each variable or use arrays.

Syntax

$variable_name = array ('value1', 'value2');

Here we get a list of movies

$movies = array ('Avatar','The Karate Kid','Transformers','Rambo');

Instead of doing $movies = ‘Avatar’ we use the array keyword open brackets and then single or double quotation marks around our movies, separating each with a comma. However you cannot print this out. Each movie is given an ID. At the bottom of $movies, put:

print_r ($movies);

View it in the browser and you should get something like this:

Here you have the word array, then open brackets and then your movie ID. So Avatar = 0 Karate Kid = 1 and so on. Remember, the first value in the array is a 0, not 1. Now to echo  type echo $movies [0];

echo $movies[1];

This will output The Karate Kid.

Key Name

In the above example, the array is referenced by its number such as $movies[1]. You can change this and call an array by its key name.

Syntax

$movies = array ('keyname' => 'value', )

Commas separate the values like before.

Example

$movies = array ('ava' => 'Avatar', 'tkd' => 'The Karate Kid', 'Tran' => 'Tranformers', 'ram' => 'Rambo');

Now to output the values, instead of using the number you use the key name.

echo $movies[tkd];

This will output The Karate Kid.

Looping through arrays

You can loop through arrays using a Foreach statement.

Syntax

foreach ($arrayname as $localvariable)
{
..code to execute
}

Example

foreach ($movies as $values)
{
echo '<br/>'.$values.'<br/>';
}

This loops through the array movies.

Sorting Arrays

The table below shows the functions which sort arrays out.

Syntax

function($arrayname);

Example

sort($movies); foreach ($movies as $values) { echo '<br/>'.$values.'<br/>'; }

Here we use a Foreach statement to print out the arrays. They will be in alphabetical order, and the arrays will have the key names removed. If you write

print_r ($movies);

below the Foreach statement, you will see that the key names have been replaced with numbers.If you do not want this to happen, use asort or arsort.

Output