php are array elements accessed by reference?

Question

The title of the question might hard to interpret, the following is the code that might help

$containers = array(); // array of arrays
for ($index = 0; $index < 4; $index++) {
  $containers[] = array(); // each element of the array is an array
}

foreach ($objects as $object) {
  $index = computeIndex($object); // compute the index into the $containers
  $container = $containers[$index]; // get the subarray object
  $container[] = $object; // append $object to the end of the subarray
  $containers[$index] = $container; // <--- question: is this needed?
}

So as the question shows, do I still need to reassign the subarray back to the array? If its a reference of the element in the array, then I don't think I need.

Explosion Pills · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-17 01:24:34Z

2

Yes the last line is needed; array elements are stored as values rather than references. However, PHP will allow you to create a reference with &:

$container = &$containers[$index];
$container[] = $object;

You could also save yourself some trouble and just do:

$containers[$index][] = $object;

answered Mar 17, 2013 at 1:24

Explosion Pills

192k56 gold badges341 silver badges417 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

bcbishop Over a year ago

awesome! do I still need the first loop for initializing the $containers?

Explosion Pills Over a year ago

You do, but you could probably use array_fill instead

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

php are array elements accessed by reference?

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related