PHP arrays assign value then get variable value

Question

I'm sorry for this beginner question. My problem is that I would like to get the value of the variable name assigned in the array. For instance like this:

$fruits = array($apple, $mango, $banana);

And then I am assigning the elements in the array same values.

for ($i = 0; $i < count($fruits); $i++) { 
    $fruits[$i] = "fruit";
}

When I want to print the apple value in the array I would do:

echo $fruits[0];

But what I want is that to print the value of apple in the array using:

echo $apple;

How would I do this? Sorry beginner here..

Thank you for answering! Is it possible just to echo the value in the array? Like echo $apple and then getting the value? — user3233787
– user3233787, Commented Jul 19, 2015 at 4:48
What exactly are you trying to do here? You're overwriting the $apple item in your $fruits array with "fruit" so naturally the value of $apple is gone? Are you trying to add items to the array? — Huey
– Huey, Commented Jul 19, 2015 at 4:49
I think you're a little confused on the purpose of arrays. You can achieve what you're doing by just assigning values directly to the fruit. — Scopey
– Scopey, Commented Jul 19, 2015 at 4:53
Why not do an associative array if you want to use "apple": $fruits = array("apple"=>$apple,"mango"=>$mango); echo $fruits['apple']; I assume it's for readability?? — Rasclatt
– Rasclatt, Commented Jul 19, 2015 at 4:54

koredalin · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-19 19:00:30Z

1

This is an alternative.

<?php
$fruits = array(
    "apple" => $apple, 
    "mango" => $mango, 
    "banana" => $banana);
foreach ($fruits as $key => $value) { 
    $fruits[$key] = "fruit";
}

echo $fruits['mango'];

answered Jul 19, 2015 at 19:00

koredalin

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Comments

raidenace · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-19 11:02:32Z

Ok,so what you are doing is incorrect to begin with.

$apple = "apple";
$mango = "mango";
$banana ="banana";

$fruits = array($apple, $mango, $banana);

for ($i = 0; $i < count($fruits); $i++) { 
    $fruits[$i] = "fruit";
}
echo "<pre>";
print_r($fruits);

What you have done in your for loop is to override the values of the array. So when you do the print_r you will get:

Array
(
    [0] => fruit
    [1] => fruit
    [2] => fruit
)

If you want to store whether it is a fruit or vegetable (and i wonder if it is the case, since your array name is 'fruits'), however if you do want to do that, then you should use an associative array:

 $cabbage= 'cabbage';
 $stuffIEat = array($apple => 'fruit', 
                    $mango => 'fruit', 
                    $banana =>'fruit',
                    $cabbage => 'vegetable');

Now when you want to see what kind of stuff apple is, you do:

echo $stuffIEat[$apple]; //prints fruit
echo $stuffIEat[$cabbage]; //prints vegetable

Now if you want to print all the fruits that you eat, you do:

print_r(array_keys($stuffIEat,'fruit'));

This will print

Array
(
    [0] => apple
    [1] => mango
    [2] => banana
)

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