Create Arrays in PHP: Indexed, Associative & from Strings

Three types of array

Indexed or Numeric Array
Associative Array
Multidimensional Array

Indexed array

We will create an array and assign multiple values to this array like this

$my_data = array('mydata1','mydata2','mydata3', 'Mydata');

In this array the index associated with each element is incremental numbers starting from 0.
Index position of array elements

echo $my_data[2] // mydata3

Creating and displaying Array

Associative Array

We can create an array with assigned Key ( indices ) and values like this. Note the use of => operator to associate key with its value.

$var=array(013=>"RKt",005=>"Bin",007=>"Alen");// Array key with value
$ar=array("FName"=>"John","Address"=>"Streen No 11 ",
          "City"=>"Rain Town","Country"=>"USA");

Output from this array is here,

echo $var[007]; // Alen
echo "<br>";
echo $ar["City"]; // Rain Town

Multidimensional arrays are discussed here.

Creating array by breaking string

We can create an array by breaking string. Let us try with some simple examples.

///Storing the sample paragraph in a variable /////
$string = 'plus2net provides easy tutorials for learning web programming';
$newArray = explode(' ', $string);

foreach ($newArray as $key => $val) {
    echo "$key -> $val<br>";
}

Here we have used space as delimiter and created the array by breaking the string. The output of above code is here.

0 -> plus2net 
1 -> provides 
2 -> easy 
3 -> tutorials 
4 -> for 
5 -> learning 
6 -> web 
7 -> programming

Now let us try another program. This is a keyword list, we will try to create array by breaking the string with coma as delimiter. Only changes to above code is shown here

$string='scripts , languages, programs, forms, database';

$new_array=explode(",",$string);

Output is here

0 -> scripts 
1 -> languages 
2 -> programs 
3 -> forms 
4 -> database

If you want to know how many keywords are present by using array_size then here is the code.

echo "Total Number of words = ".sizeof($new_array);

Output of this is here

Total Number of words = 5

Creating array by using range()

We can specify a range and step to create an array by using numbers or chars between the range.

$my_array=range(0,10); // create an array
foreach ($my_array as $element) {
    echo $element . "  ";
}

Output

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

range() with step & chars:

$nums  = range(0, 10, 2);   // 0 2 4 6 8 10
$chars = range('a', 'f');   // a b c d e f

$a = [1, 2];
$b = [3, 4];
$merged = [...$a, ...$b]; // [1,2,3,4]
print_r($merged);

Display elements of an array
Array REFERENCE

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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Create Arrays in PHP (Indexed, Associative, From Strings)

Indexed array

Creating and displaying Array

Associative Array

Creating array by breaking string

Creating array by using range()

Subhendu Mohapatra