Syntax

[Sunny]

Hi

What does this mean

foreach ($beatles as $key => $beatle)
{
echo "<b>$key:</b> $beatle<br>";
}

$beatles is array

Thanks

[simplypixie]

Every element in an array consists of a key => value pair. Depending on how the array has been created this will either be a numeric key based on the position of the element in the array (starting at zero) or a name.

For example:

Code: Select all

<?php

$example_array1 = array('Apple','Potato','Dog');

print_r($example_array1);
// Using print_r will show you the array items with a numeric index

Array
(
    [0] => Apple
    [1] => Potato
    [2] => Dog
)

$example_array2 = array('fruit' => 'Apple', 'vegetable' => 'Potato', 'animal' => 'Dog');

print_r($example_array2);
// Using print_r will show you the array items with a named index

Array
(
    [fruit] => Apple
    [vegetable] => Potato
    [animal] => Dog
)
?>


In each case the $key is the numeric or named index and the $value is the value of each item.

To go through elements in an array you use for or foreach, so in your example it is saying for each element in the array $beatles extract each element's key and value (this is where the 'as' comes into play) and echo out the data.

It might make more sense to you if we change $beatle to $value

Code: Select all

foreach ($beatles as $key => $value) // For each element in the $beatles array, extract the $key and $value
{
echo "<b>$key:</b> $value<br>"; // echo the $key (numeric or named) and that key's value
}

I hope this helps and hasn't confused you more