An array can store multiple values in a single variable.

You can declare an array by using array() function.

Syntax

$arrName = array(values..);

There are three types of arrays:

1. Indexed arrays

Elements of the indexed arrays are accessed using it's indices. Their index starts from 0.

There are two ways to create indexed arrays as shown below:

$directions = array("East", "West", "North", "South");

or assign manually

$directions[0] = "East";
$directions[1] = "West";
$directions[2] = "North";
$directions[3] = "South";

Example

<?php
$directions = array("East", "West", "North", "South");
$length = count($directions);

for($i=0; $i < $length; $i++) {
  echo "$directions[$i]\n";
}
?>

Run here

2. Associative arrays

Associative arrays are the arrays which contain key-value pairs.

There are two ways to create asspciative arrays as shown below:

$capitals = array("Japan" => "Tokyo", "India" => "New Delhi","United Kingdom" => "London","United States" => "Washington, D.C.","China" => "Beijing");

or assign manually

$capitals["Japan"] = "Tokyo";
$capitals["India"] = "New Delhi";
$capitals["United Kingdom"] = "London";
$capitals["United States"] = "Washington, D.C.";
$capitals["China"] = "Beijing";

Example

<?php
$capitals = array("Japan" => "Tokyo", "India" => "New Delhi","United Kingdom" => "London","United States" => "Washington, D.C.","China" => "Beijing");
foreach($capitals as $key => $value) {
  echo "capital of ". $key . " is " . $value. "\n";
}
?>

Run here

3. Multi dimensional arrays

A multidimensional array is an array which contain one or more arrays.

Two-dimensional array

You can create a two-dimensional array as shown below:

$num = array(
  array(1,2,3),
  array(4,5,6),
  array(7,8,9)
  );

Example

<?php
$num = array(
  array(1,2,3),
  array(4,5,6),
  array(7,8,9)
  );
  for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++){
    for ($j=0; $j <3; $j++){
      echo($num[$i][$j]);
      echo("\t");
    }
    echo("\n");
  }
?>

Run here