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PHP: Arrays

At some point are another you will run into arrays in PHP or need to use them yourself. At first they may seem a little complicated, but really once you do a few yourself you see how easy it is to use them. Basically an array is a group of variables packed into one variable(array). They can come into handy when you find yourself defining variables like, $image1, $image2 and $image3. So lets get started.

Starting an Array:

PHP Code Example:
<?
// This creates an array called $names
$names = array('mike','scott','kyle','mark');
?>


Adding an Item:
PHP Code Example:
<?
// This adds the name "george" to the end our $names array
$names[] = 'george';
?>


In an array each item has a key to identify it, by default the first item's key is 0. So in our example mike would be 0 and kyle would be 2. The keys make it easy to use the items in your arrays. Here is an example of using the array items.

Array Usage:
PHP Code Example:
<?
// This is a complete example
$names = array('mike','scott','kyle','mark');
$names[] = 'george';
echo "$names[1]; is 26 years old";
?>


This example would output: Scott is 26 years old

Associative Array:

You don't have to use the default numbering system for the keys, you can give your array any keyname you like. Here is a full example of using this type of array.

Array Usage:
PHP Code Example:
<?
// This is a complete example of a associative array.
$prices = array(
             'fruit' => 'Apples',
             'price' => '1.49',
             'quanity' => '2'
);

echo ("I bought $prices[quanity] $prices[fruit] for $prices[price]");

?>


This example would output: I bought 2 Apples for 1.49