Multidimensional arrays in PHP
Multi-dimensional arrays are such type of arrays which stores an another array at each index instead of single element. In other words, define multi-dimensional arrays as array of arrays. As the name suggests, every element in this array can be an array and they can also hold other sub-arrays within. Arrays or sub-arrays in multidimensional arrays can be accessed using multiple dimensions.
Dimensions: Dimensions of multidimensional array indicates the number of indices needed to select an element. For a two dimensional array two indices to select an element.
Two dimensional array: It is the simplest form of a multidimensional array. It can be created using nested array. These type of arrays can be used to store any type of elements, but the index is always a number. By default, the index starts with zero.
Syntax:
array (
array (elements...),
array (elements...),
...
)
Example:
<?php
$myarray = array (
array ( "Ankit" , "Ram" , "Shyam" ),
array ( "Unnao" , "Trichy" , "Kanpur" )
);
print_r( $myarray );
?>
|
Output:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => Ankit
[1] => Ram
[2] => Shyam
)
[1] => Array
(
[0] => Unnao
[1] => Trichy
[2] => Kanpur
)
)
Two dimensional associative array: Al associative array is similar to indexed array but instead of linear storage (indexed storage), every value can be assigned with a user-defined key of string type.
Example:
<?php
$marks = array (
"Ankit" => array (
"C" => 95,
"DCO" => 85,
"FOL" => 74,
),
"Ram" => array (
"C" => 78,
"DCO" => 98,
"FOL" => 46,
),
"Anoop" => array (
"C" => 88,
"DCO" => 46,
"FOL" => 99,
),
);
echo "Display Marks: \n" ;
print_r( $marks );
?>
|
Output:
Display Marks:
Array
(
[Ankit] => Array
(
[C] => 95
[DCO] => 85
[FOL] => 74
)
[Ram] => Array
(
[C] => 78
[DCO] => 98
[FOL] => 46
)
[Anoop] => Array
(
[C] => 88
[DCO] => 46
[FOL] => 99
)
)
Three Dimensional Array: It is the form of multidimensional array. Initialization in Three-Dimensional array is same as that of Two-dimensional arrays. The difference is as the number of dimension increases so the number of nested braces will also increase.
Syntax:
array (
array (
array (elements...),
array (elements...),
...
),
array (
array (elements...),
array (elements...),
...
),
...
)
Example:
<?php
$myarray = array (
array (
array (1, 2),
array (3, 4),
),
array (
array (5, 6),
array (7, 8),
),
);
print_r( $myarray );
?>
|
Output:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => 1
[1] => 2
)
[1] => Array
(
[0] => 3
[1] => 4
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => 5
[1] => 6
)
[1] => Array
(
[0] => 7
[1] => 8
)
)
)
Accessing multidimensional array elements: There are mainly two ways to access multidimensional array elements in PHP.
- Elements can be accessed using dimensions as array_name[‘first dimension’][‘second dimension’].
- Elements can be accessed using for loop.
- Elements can be accessed using for each loop.
Example:
<?php
$marks = array (
"Ankit" => array (
"C" => 95,
"DCO" => 85,
"FOL" => 74,
),
"Ram" => array (
"C" => 78,
"DCO" => 98,
"FOL" => 46,
),
"Anoop" => array (
"C" => 88,
"DCO" => 46,
"FOL" => 99,
),
);
echo $marks [ 'Ankit' ][ 'C' ] . "\n" ;
foreach ( $marks as $mark ) {
echo $mark [ 'C' ]. " " . $mark [ 'DCO' ]. " " . $mark [ 'FOL' ]. "\n" ;
}
?>
|
Output:
95
95 85 74
78 98 46
88 46 99
PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.
Last Updated :
31 Jul, 2021
Like Article
Save Article
Share your thoughts in the comments
Please Login to comment...