PHP array_map uses a callback function (to map an array or arrays) to send each element of an array or arrays used as arguments for the callback to modify elements. The PHP array_map() is a built-in function in PHP and it helps to modify all elements in one or more arrays according to some user-defined condition.
Returned values can be changed by the callback function. This function can be PHP built-in function or a custom user-made function.
array_map is a function to modify elements of arrays and it is categorized under the PHP array functions.
Read more about PHP Array in our tutorial.
PHP array_map function (PHP array map syntax)
With array_map you could modify each element of the given array based on your callback function.
This function is available in PHP 4.0.6 and higher.
array_map( callback_func, array1, array2, array3, ...);| callback_func | Required | The callback function could be PHP built-in or a custom user-made function. This function runs for each element in each array. |
| array1 | Required | An array to run through the callback function. |
| array2 | Optional | An array to run through the callback function. |
| array3 | Optional | An array to run through the callback function. |
| Return Value | Returns an array containing the values of array1, after applying the callback function to each element. |
The returned array will preserve the keys of the array argument if and only if exactly one array is passed. If more than one array is passed, the returned array will have sequential integer keys.
Let’s assume that you have a list of numbers and you have to double them. You could use foreach loop and double every element of the array or use array_map() function. In this tutorial, we are going to talk about array_map in PHP.
Using array_map on Indexed array
Send each value of an array to a function, and multiply each value by 2.
$arr = array(1, 2, 3, 4);
function double_it($value)
{
return 2 * $value;
}
var_dump(array_map('double_it', $arr));Output
array (size=4)
0 => int 2
1 => int 4
2 => int 6
3 => int 8The array_map() function sends each value of an array to the double_it() function and returns an array with new values.
Using array_map function on associative arrays in PHP
The array_map() function does not directly support using the array key as an input. To involve the keys you have to use array_keys() function.
$cars = [
'Ferrari' => 'Italy',
'Benz' => 'Germany',
];
function callback_func($key, $value)
{
return "$key => $value";
}
$result = array_map('callback_func', array_keys($cars), array_values($cars));
var_dump($result);Output:
array (size=2)
0 => string 'Ferrari => Italy' (length=16)
1 => string 'Benz => Germany' (length=15)Null callback function: Creating an array of arrays using the array_map function
The null value can be passed as a value to the callback function to perform a zip operation on multiple arrays. If only an array is provided, array_map() will return the input array.
$num1 = array(1, 2, 3, 4, 5);
$num2 = array(6, 7, 8, 9, 10);
var_dump(array_map(null, $num1, $num2));Output:
array (size=5)
0 =>
array (size=2)
0 => int 1
1 => int 6
1 =>
array (size=2)
0 => int 2
1 => int 7
2 =>
array (size=2)
0 => int 3
1 => int 8
3 =>
array (size=2)
0 => int 4
1 => int 9
4 =>
array (size=2)
0 => int 5
1 => int 10The real example for this section could be like this:
You have a list of car drivers’ names and a list of car names and you want to join them together.
$drivers = array('Ben', 'Mark', 'Edi');
$cars = array('Ferrari', 'Benz', 'BMW');
var_dump(array_map(null, $drivers, $cars));Output:
array (size=3)
0 =>
array (size=2)
0 => string 'Ben' (length=3)
1 => string 'Ferrari' (length=7)
1 =>
array (size=2)
0 => string 'Mark' (length=4)
1 => string 'Benz' (length=4)
2 =>
array (size=2)
0 => string 'Edi' (length=3)
1 => string 'BMW' (length=3)Read More: PHP Array Merge
Using PHP array_map on an array of objects
In this section, you are going to create a class named User and an array of objects of the User class. This section shows you how to use array_map with a class.
class User
{
public $username;
public $password;
function __construct($username, $password)
{
$this->username = $username;
$this->password = $password;
}
}
$users = array(
new User('honar', '123456'),
new User('systems', '456789')
);
function get_username($user)
{
return $user->username;
}
$usernames = array_map('get_username', $users);
var_dump($usernames);Output
array (size=2)
0 => string 'honar' (length=5)
1 => string 'systems' (length=7)In this example, there is a class named User that stores the username and password as strings. There is an array that stores the objects of the users. Function get_username() took one parameter that is an object of the User class and return its username.
array_map uses get_username function and return $users usernames in array.
Example #1 of PHP array map
Change English numbers to Arabic numbers.
function change($en_number)
{
$ar_numbers = array('۰', '۱', '۲', '۳', '۴', '۵', '۶', '۷', '۸', '۹');
return $ar_numbers[intval($en_number)];
}
$str = "0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9";
print_r(array_map('change', explode(' ', $str)));Array ( [0] => ۰ [1] => ۱ [2] => ۲ [3] => ۳ [4] => ۴ [5] => ۵ [6] => ۶ [7] => ۷ [8] => ۸ [9] => ۹ ) In this example exploded $str length must be equal to $ar_numbers length.
Read More: PHP Explode Functions
Example #2
Lowercase all car names in the array with PHP array_map function.
$cars = array('Ferrari', 'Benz', 'BMW');
function tolowercase($carName)
{
return strtolower($carName);
}
var_dump(array_map('tolowercase', $cars));Output:
array (size=3)
0 => string 'ferrari' (length=7)
1 => string 'benz' (length=4)
2 => string 'bmw' (length=3)