Print an array in PHP

In this post, we will see how to print an array in PHP.

There are several ways to print contents of an array in PHP:

1. Using `print_r()` function

The most common method to print the contents of an array is using the print_r() function, which displays the human information about a variable. For an array, the values are displayed in a format that shows keys and elements.

The following code demonstrates this by printing an associative array using the print_r() function.

<?php

$arr = array ('r' => 'red', 'g' => 'green', 'b' => array ('blue', 'brown', 'black'));

print_r($arr);

/* Output:

Array

(

[r] => red

[g] => green

[b] => Array

(

[0] => blue

[1] => brown

[2] => black

)

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Here’s how the output would look like for a normal array,

<?php

$arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

print_r($arr);

/* Output:

Array

(

[0] => 1

[1] => 2

[2] => 3

[3] => 4

[4] => 5

)

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Note that you can capture the output of the print_r() function by setting the second parameter to true. Now the print_r() function will return the output rather than printing it.

<?php

$arr = array ('r' => 'red', 'g' => 'green', 'b' => array ('blue', 'brown', 'black'));

$str = print_r ($arr, true);

echo $str;

/* Output:

Array

(

[r] => red

[g] => green

[b] => Array

(

[0] => blue

[1] => brown

[2] => black

)

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2. Using `var_export()` function

The var_export() function outputs or returns a parsable string representation of a variable, which is valid PHP code. It is often used by programmers to print an array in PHP.

<?php

$arr = array ('r' => 'red', 'g' => 'green', 'b' => array ('blue', 'brown', 'black'));

var_export($arr);

/* Output:

array (

'r' => 'red',

'g' => 'green',

'b' =>

array (

0 => 'blue',

1 => 'brown',

2 => 'black',

)

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Here’s how the output would look like for a normal array,

<?php

$arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

var_export($arr);

/* Output:

array (

0 => 1,

1 => 2,

2 => 3,

3 => 4,

4 => 5,

)

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3. Using `var_dump()` function

Another good solution to dump information about the contents of an array is using the var_dump() function. For an array, it recursively displays structured information about it such as its data type, value, and length.

The following code demonstrates this:

<?php

$arr = array ('r' => 'red', 'g' => 'green', 'b' => array ('blue', 'brown', 'black'));

var_dump($arr);

/* Output:

array(3) {

["r"]=>

string(3) "red"

["g"]=>

string(5) "green"

["b"]=>

array(3) {

[0]=>

string(4) "blue"

[1]=>

string(5) "brown"

[2]=>

string(5) "black"

}

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Here’s how the output would look like for a normal array,

<?php

$arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

var_dump($arr);

/* Output:

array(5) {

[0]=>

int(1)

[1]=>

int(2)

[2]=>

int(3)

[3]=>

int(4)

[4]=>

int(5)

}

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4. Using `json_encode()` function

The json_encode() function returns a string containing the JSON representation of a value. It can be used to encode an array in PHP, resulting in a human-readable JSON string.

Here’s how the output would look like for an associative array,

<?php

$arr = array ('r' => 'red', 'g' => 'green', 'b' => array ('blue', 'brown', 'black'));

echo json_encode($arr);

Output: {"r":"red","g":"green","b":["blue","brown","black"]}

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For a normal array, only the values are displayed.

<?php

$arr = array (1, 2, 3, 4, 5);

echo json_encode($arr);

Output: [1,2,3,4,5]

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5. Using `foreach` construct

Finally, you can use the foreach construct to iterate over arrays.

The following code demonstrates this, where it assigns the value of the current element to $value on each iteration:

<?php

$arr = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];

foreach ($arr as $value) {

echo $value . ' ';

}

Output: 1 2 3 4 5

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The following code additionally assigns the current element’s key to the $key variable on each iteration.

<?php

$arr = array ('r' => 'red', 'g' => 'green', 'b' => 'blue');

foreach ($arr as $key => $value) {

echo $key . "=>" . $value . "\n";

}

Output:

r => red

g => green

b => blue

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Note: The whitespace is not preserved in the DOM, rather a single space is rendered in a browser. The solution is to wrap the output of the above functions inside a <pre></pre> tag.

That’s all about printing an array in PHP.

1. Using print_r() function

2. Using var_export() function

3. Using var_dump() function

4. Using json_encode() function

5. Using foreach construct

Share this:

1. Using `print_r()` function

2. Using `var_export()` function

3. Using `var_dump()` function

4. Using `json_encode()` function

5. Using `foreach` construct