Specifying with array()

An array can be created by the array() language construct. It takes as parameters any number of comma-separated key => value pairs.

array(  key =>  value
     , ...
     )
// key may only be an integer or string
// value may be any value of any type

A key may be either an integer or a string. If a key is the standard representation of an integer, it will be interpreted as such (i.e. "8" will be interpreted as 8, while "08" will be interpreted as "08"). Floats in key are truncated to integer. The indexed and associative array types are the same type in PHP, which can both contain integer and string indices.

A value can be any PHP type.

If a key is not specified for a value, the maximum of the integer indices is taken and the new key will be that value plus 1. If a key that already has an assigned value is specified, that value will be overwritten.

Using TRUE as key will evaluate to integer 1 as a key. Using FALSE as key will evaluate to integer 0 as a key. Using NULL as a key will evaluate to the empty string. Using the empty string as a key will create (or overwrite) a key with the empty string and its value; it is not the same as using empty brackets.

Arrays and objects can not be used as keys. Doing so will result in a warning: Illegal offset type.

Creating/modifying with square bracket syntax

An existing array can be modified by explicitly setting values in it.

This is done by assigning values to the array, specifying the key in brackets. The key can also be omitted, resulting in an empty pair of brackets ([]).

$arr[key] = value;
$arr[] = value;
// key may be an integer or string
// value may be any value of any type

If $arr doesn't exist yet, it will be created, so this is also an alternative way to create an array. To change a certain value, assign a new value to that element using its key. To remove a key/value pair, call the unset() function on it.

Note: As mentioned above, if no key is specified, the maximum of the existing integer indices is taken, and the new key will be that maximum value plus 1. If no integer indices exist yet, the key will be 0 (zero). If a key that already has a value is specified, that value will be overwritten.
Note that the maximum integer key used for this need not currently exist in the array. It need only have existed in the array at some time since the last time the array was re-indexed. The following example illustrates:

<?php
// Create a simple array.
$array = array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
print_r($array);

// Now delete every item, but leave the array itself intact:
foreach ($array as $i => $value) {
    unset($array[$i]);
}
print_r($array);

// Append an item (note that the new key is 5, instead of 0).
$array[] = 6;
print_r($array);

// Re-index:
$array = array_values($array);
$array[] = 7;
print_r($array);
?>

The above example will output:

Array
(
    [0] => 1
    [1] => 2
    [2] => 3
    [3] => 4
    [4] => 5
)
Array
(
)
Array
(
    [5] => 6
)
Array
(
    [0] => 6
    [1] => 7
)

     

Why is $foo[bar] wrong?

Always use quotes around a string literal array index. For example, $foo['bar'] is correct, while $foo[bar] is not. But why? It is common to encounter this kind of syntax in old scripts:

This is wrong, but it works. The reason is that this code has an undefined constant (bar) rather than a string ('bar' - notice the quotes). PHP may in future define constants which, unfortunately for such code, have the same name. It works because PHP automatically converts a bare string (an unquoted string which does not correspond to any known symbol) into a string which contains the bare string. For instance, if there is no defined constant named bar, then PHP will substitute in the string 'bar' and use that.

Note: This does not mean to always quote the key. Do not quote keys which are constants or variables, as this will prevent PHP from interpreting them.

<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', true);
ini_set('html_errors', false);
// Simple array:
$array = array(1, 2);
$count = count($array);
for ($i = 0; $i < $count; $i++) {
    echo "\nChecking $i: \n";
    echo "Bad: " . $array['$i'] . "\n";
    echo "Good: " . $array[$i] . "\n";
    echo "Bad: {$array['$i']}\n";
    echo "Good: {$array[$i]}\n";
}
?>

The above example will output:

Checking 0: 
Notice: Undefined index:  $i in /path/to/script.html on line 9
Bad: 
Good: 1
Notice: Undefined index:  $i in /path/to/script.html on line 11
Bad: 
Good: 1

Checking 1: 
Notice: Undefined index:  $i in /path/to/script.html on line 9
Bad: 
Good: 2
Notice: Undefined index:  $i in /path/to/script.html on line 11
Bad: 
Good: 2
        
    

More examples to demonstrate this behaviour:

When error_reporting is set to show E_NOTICE level errors (by setting it to E_ALL, for example), such uses will become immediately visible. By default, error_reporting is set not to show notices.

As stated in the syntax section, what's inside the square brackets ('[' and ']') must be an expression. This means that code like this works:

This is an example of using a function return value as the array index. PHP also knows about constants:

Note that E_ERROR is also a valid identifier, just like bar in the first example. But the last example is in fact the same as writing:

because E_ERROR equals 1, etc.