PHP Array Functions
last modified February 17, 2025
In this article, we show how to work with arrays in PHP using various array functions. Arrays are a fundamental data structure in PHP, and the language provides a rich set of functions to manipulate them. We will use both numerical and string data in the examples.
Counting Elements
The following example demonstrates how to count the number of elements in an
array using the count function.
<?php
$numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
$fruits = [
"apple" => "red",
"banana" => "yellow",
"grape" => "purple"
];
echo "Number of elements in numbers array: " . count($numbers) . "\n";
echo "Number of elements in fruits array: " . count($fruits) . "\n";
In this program, the count function is used to count the number of
elements in the $numbers and $fruits arrays.
$ php main.php Number of elements in numbers array: 5 Number of elements in fruits array: 3
Joining Array Elements
The following example demonstrates how to join the elements of an array into a
string using the implode function.
<?php
$fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'grape', 'orange'];
$joinedFruits = implode(', ', $fruits);
echo "Joined fruits: " . $joinedFruits . "\n";
In this program, the implode function is used to join all elements
of the $fruits array into a single string, separated by commas.
$ php main.php Joined fruits: apple, banana, grape, orange
Summing Array Elements
The following example demonstrates how to sum all the elements in an array using
the array_sum function.
<?php $numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]; echo "Sum of elements in numbers array: " . array_sum($numbers) . "\n";
In this program, the array_sum function is used to calculate the
sum of all elements in the $numbers array.
$ php main.php Sum of elements in numbers array: 15
Picking Random Elements from an Array
The following example demonstrates how to pick one or more random elements from
an array using the array_rand function.
<?php
$numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10];
$randomKey = array_rand($numbers);
$randomElement = $numbers[$randomKey];
echo "Random element: " . $randomElement . "\n";
// Picking multiple random elements
$randomKeys = array_rand($numbers, 3);
$randomElements = array_map(function ($key) use ($numbers) {
return $numbers[$key];
}, $randomKeys);
echo "Multiple random elements: " . implode(', ', $randomElements) . "\n";
In this program, the array_rand function is used to pick random
keys from the $numbers array. The elements at these keys are then
accessed to get the random values.
$ php main.php Random element: 7 Multiple random elements: 2, 8, 10
Sorting Arrays
The following example demonstrates how to sort arrays using the
sort, rsort, asort, and
ksort functions.
<?php
$numbers = [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9];
$fruits = [
"apple" => "red",
"banana" => "yellow",
"grape" => "purple"
];
// Sort numerically
sort($numbers);
print_r($numbers);
// Sort numerically in reverse order
rsort($numbers);
print_r($numbers);
// Sort associative array by value
asort($fruits);
print_r($fruits);
// Sort associative array by key
ksort($fruits);
print_r($fruits);
In this program, the sort function sorts the $numbers
array in ascending order, while rsort sorts it in descending order.
The asort function sorts the $fruits array by value,
and ksort sorts it by key.
$ php main.php
Array
(
[0] => 1
[1] => 1
[2] => 3
[3] => 4
[4] => 5
[5] => 9
)
Array
(
[0] => 9
[1] => 5
[2] => 4
[3] => 3
[4] => 1
[5] => 1
)
Array
(
[apple] => red
[grape] => purple
[banana] => yellow
)
Array
(
[apple] => red
[banana] => yellow
[grape] => purple
)
Extracting Columns from an Array
The following example demonstrates how to extract a column from a
multidimensional array using the array_column function.
<?php
$records = [
['name' => 'John', 'age' => 25],
['name' => 'Jane', 'age' => 22],
['name' => 'Doe', 'age' => 30]
];
$names = array_column($records, 'name');
print_r($names);
In this program, the array_column function is used to extract the
values of the 'name' column from the $records array.
$ php main.php
Array
(
[0] => John
[1] => Jane
[2] => Doe
)
Shuffling an Array
The following example demonstrates how to shuffle the elements of an array using
the shuffle function.
<?php $numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]; shuffle($numbers); print_r($numbers);
In this program, the shuffle function is used to randomly rearrange
the elements in the $numbers array.
$ php main.php
Array
(
[0] => 3
[1] => 1
[2] => 4
[3] => 5
[4] => 2
)
Merging Arrays
The following example demonstrates how to merge arrays using the
array_merge function.
<?php $numbers1 = [1, 2, 3]; $numbers2 = [4, 5, 6]; $fruits1 = ["apple" => "red"]; $fruits2 = ["banana" => "yellow"]; // Merge numerical arrays $mergedNumbers = array_merge($numbers1, $numbers2); print_r($mergedNumbers); // Merge associative arrays $mergedFruits = array_merge($fruits1, $fruits2); print_r($mergedFruits);
In this program, the array_merge function is used to merge two
numerical arrays and two associative arrays.
$ php main.php
Array
(
[0] => 1
[1] => 2
[2] => 3
[3] => 4
[4] => 5
[5] => 6
)
Array
(
[apple] => red
[banana] => yellow
)
Filtering Arrays
The following example demonstrates how to filter arrays using the
array_filter function.
<?php
$numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6];
$fruits = [
"apple" => "red",
"banana" => "yellow",
"grape" => "purple"
];
// Filter even numbers
$evenNumbers = array_filter($numbers, function($n) {
return $n % 2 == 0;
});
print_r($evenNumbers);
// Filter fruits with names longer than 5 characters
$longFruits = array_filter($fruits, function($key) {
return strlen($key) > 5;
}, ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY);
print_r($longFruits);
In this program, the array_filter function is used to filter even
numbers from the $numbers array and fruits with names longer than 5
characters from the $fruits array.
$ php main.php
Array
(
[1] => 2
[3] => 4
[5] => 6
)
Array
(
[banana] => yellow
)
Mapping Arrays
The following example demonstrates how to apply a function to all elements of an
array using the array_map function.
<?php
$numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
$fruits = ["apple", "banana", "grape"];
// Square all numbers
$squaredNumbers = array_map(function($n) {
return $n * $n;
}, $numbers);
print_r($squaredNumbers);
// Uppercase all fruit names
$uppercaseFruits = array_map('strtoupper', $fruits);
print_r($uppercaseFruits);
In this program, the array_map function is used to square all
numbers in the $numbers array and convert all fruit names in the
$fruits array to uppercase.
$ php main.php
Array
(
[0] => 1
[1] => 4
[2] => 9
[3] => 16
[4] => 25
)
Array
(
[0] => APPLE
[1] => BANANA
[2] => GRAPE
)
Finding an Element in an Array
The following example demonstrates how to find an element in an array using a
custom array_find function.
<?php
function array_find($array, $predicate) {
foreach ($array as $key => $value) {
if ($predicate($value)) {
return $value;
}
}
return null;
}
$fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'grape', 'orange'];
$result = array_find($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return $fruit === 'banana';
});
echo "Found fruit: " . $result . "\n";
In this program, a custom array_find function is defined to find
the first element in the $fruits array that matches the condition
specified by the predicate function.
$ php main.php Found fruit: banana
Source
PHP Array Functions - Documentation
In this article, we have shown how to work with arrays in PHP using various array functions. Arrays are a powerful tool for storing and manipulating collections of data.
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