PHP | count() Function

This inbuilt function of PHP is used to count the current elements in the array. The function might return 0 for the variable that has been set to an empty array. Also for the variable which is not set the function returns 0. 

Syntax:

count($array, mode)

Parameters: The function generally takes one parameter that is the array for which the elements is needed to be counted. But in addition, the function can take a parameter mode which tells the function to count element in which normal or recursive mode.

1. $array (mandatory) : Refers to the array, whose elements are needed to be counted.
2. mode (optional) : This is used to set the mode of the function. The parameter can take two possible values, either 0 or 1. 1 generally indicates to count the values of the array recursively. This helps in counting the multidimensional array. The default value is 0 or False.

Return Values: The function returns the number of elements in an array. Below programs will help in understanding the working of count() function. 

Program 1: Counting normally, that is passing mode as 0 or not passing the parameter mode. 

PHP

<?php

// PHP program to illustrate working of count()
$array = array("Aakash", "Ravi", "Prashant", "49", "50");

print_r(count($array));

?>

Output:

5

Program 2: Counting recursively or passing mode as 1. 

PHP

<?php

// PHP program to illustrate working of count()
$array = array('names' => array('Aakash', 'Ravi', 'Prashant'),
               'rollno' => array('5', '10', '15'));

// recursive count - mode as 1
echo("Recursive count: ".count($array,1)."\n");

// normal count - mode as 0
echo("Normal count: ".count($array,0)."\n");

?>

Output:

Recursive count: 8
Normal count: 2

Reference: http://php.net/manual/en/function.count.php